Barclays takes on HSBC as it opens up mobile app to rival bank accounts
Barclays is taking on HSBC as it opens up its app to rival banks accounts, it announced today.
The high street bank will be the first to let customers bring current accounts from other providers into its mobile banking platform using Open Banking technology.
The ability to aggregate accounts is already offered by HSBC's Connected Money, which uses so-called screen-scraping to access accounts at competitor banks instead of Open Banking protocol.
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Customers with current accounts at Lloyds, Halifax, Bank of Scotland, RBS, Natwest, Nationwide or Santander will be able to view their balance and transactions within the app, with more banks to be added in the future.
"Today, lots of people have current accounts with more than one bank, so keeping track of your finances can be tricky as well as time-consuming," Barclays managing director of retail banking Catherine McGrath said.
"Our new feature is designed to solve this problem, offering a simple and secure way to get a clearer picture of your finances, all in the place six million of our customers already go to do their banking."
The feature will be rolled out over the next few weeks to all Barclays UK personal current accounts including Premier, Wealth Management and Private Clients.
McGrath added: “Our customers have already trusted us with their money for over 325 years, and we want them to know that we will treat their data just as securely. We will never ask customers to share their login details for another bank and we will always ensure they have full control over their data, with the ability to manage information sharing quickly, easily, and above all safely.”
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