HM Treasury, 1 Horse Guards Road, London, SW1A 2HQ Matt Hammerstein Managing Director, Head of Customer and Client Experience, Personal and Corporate Banking, Barclays 1 Churchill Place London £14 SHP Gavin Starks CEO Open Data Institute, 3" Floor 65 Clifton Street London EC2A 4JE Dear Nod, > Gas August 2015 Open API standard in UK banking | would like to welcome you to your roles as co-chairs of the joint industry and Government Working Group exploring how more open data in banking could benefit consumers, and designing a detalled framework to enable the development of an open API standard in UK banking. | wish you well in this important task and look forward to being kept informed of progress. As the Government set out in its response to the Call for Evidence on data sharing and open data in banking, there is widespread consensus that delivering an open API standard in the UK will help to drive more competition and innovation in financial services for the benefit of customers and help to develop further the UK's world-leading FinTech sector. Of course, it will also help UK banks and account service providers head this important agenda, in advance of requirements in this area that are likely to form part of the Payment Services Directive |. UK banks are already working with the FinTech sector in a variety of ways to support the banking needs of customers, and this is a welcome further step in this direction. In its response to the Call for Evidence the Government also confirmed that it would work closely with banks, account service providers and FinTech firms to deliver a detailed framework for its design by the end of the year, The first objective of the Working Group therefore should be to publish a paper by the end of 2015 setting out a framework to enable the design, delivery and administration of an open API standard, with a timetable for achieving this.HM Treasury, 1 Horse Guards Road, London, SW1A 2HQ While the Working Group will of course consider this in more detail itis the Government's view at this stage that the focus should be on designing an open API standard for personal and business current account customers. These are the markets where an open API standard could, we believe, have the most impact, as personal and business current account customers will be able to benefit significantly from being able to make use of their data more effectively. It will also help the UK engage constructively on the implementation of the Payment Services Directive Il, which similarly considers how third parties can access customers’ payment account data. The Working Group should also ensure that in delivering the framework for the design of the open API standard it addresses, key issues around customer usability and trust, security of data, liability and governance of the standard. It will be important to ensure that industry works together effectively and collaboratively in taking forward this work and that a wide variety of views and expertise are engaged. In this vein it will be important to utilise the role that the trade bodies who are providing a secretariat function to the Working Group (BBA, Innovate Finance and Payments UK) can play in representing the diverse cross-section of views of their members. | look forward to hearing more on the design of the framework for the open API standard as the activity of the Working Group develops. In the meantime, | would be grateful if you would engage with my officials on the development and delivery of this important project, who will be very happy to join and play a key role within the Working Group. | am also sending a copy of this letter to Anthony Browne, Chief Executive British Bankers’ Association; Maurice Cleaves, CEO Payments UK; and Lawrence Wintermeyer, CEO Innovate / Finance. Fe —4e Bullh— HARRIETT BALDWIN