How Open Banking works

Your financial information belongs to you, and Open Banking is designed to put you in control of it.

It will always be up to you if you want to make a payment or share data with an Open Banking service. That means you don’t need to opt in or out. You choose which services you want to share data with, and nothing is shared with services you haven’t signed up for.

You don’t need to give anyone your login details to use Open Banking – you’ll only share the account information you choose to. There are also some kinds of service which need your login details to share data which isn’t covered by Open Banking.

cup saying 'Home Sweet Home' on table.

Protecting your data as well as your money

Security is a priority for us, and we’ve made it just as safe to use Open Banking as the other ways you bank with us.

  • Only you can choose to share your data or make a payment.
  • You can stop sharing data at any time in Internet Banking.
  • Your payments are protected in exactly the same way as when you use Internet Banking.

You should still be just as careful as with any other online service. Read the details of everything you sign up for, and make sure you understand exactly what data you’re sharing and how it will be used. Check your statements regularly and contact us if you’re unsure about anything you see on them.

What to expect

Whenever you share data or make a payment, you’ll be transferred to our secure website and we’ll ask for your Internet Banking login details. This is so we can make sure it’s really you, and your login details will never be shared.

Once you’ve set everything up, data and payment details are transferred between us and the other website/app using a protected connection. If you want to stop sharing anything, you can cancel it through Internet Banking.

Services asking for your login details

When a service asks for you login details, this is usually so they can use types of data which aren’t covered by Open Banking, or to work with banks which aren’t part of it yet.

Before giving your login details, you should make sure you understand the service which the company is providing and that it has been authorised by the FCA.

For more information, read the FCA guidance on this kind of service.

FAQs

  • When you set up sharing, you’ll be able to see exactly what information is included before you agree to it.

    You can check what data you’ve already agreed to share by viewing your data sharing settings in Internet Banking. Look for ‘Data sharing settings’ under ‘Your profile’ once you’ve logged in.

  • You can stop sharing data at any time, either in Internet Banking or through the other website/app. You’ll find your data sharing settings under ‘Your profile’ in Internet Banking.

    If you’ve shared data by giving someone your login details, you won’t be able to cancel it in Internet Banking. The other website/app should always have an option to stop sharing. This type of sharing will also stop automatically if you change your Internet Banking password.

  • When you share data with another company, it’s their responsibility to store and use it safely. You should read their privacy policy and make sure you understand what they’ll do with your data.

    After you stop sharing data, they might keep a record of what you’ve shared in the past. You’ll need to contact them to check if they do this.

  • All companies involved in Open Banking need to be registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) or another European regulator. That means they are responsible and accountable for how they use your data and handle payments. You can check that a UK company is registered for data sharing and payments on the FCA website.

    If you’re not sure how someone is using your data, you should talk to them first. If they can’t help you, contact us and we’ll try to resolve the issue.

  • Whenever you use an Open Banking service, you’ll be transferred to our secure website so we can make sure it’s you. Always check that the web address contains the ‘s’ in ‘https://’ and that it ends with ‘bankofscotland.co.uk’.

    Remember, we'll never share your log in details with anyone, or contact you by phone or email asking for your login details. We would never ask you to transfer money into a ‘safe’ account either. If you receive unusual phone calls or emails, or have concerns about any other suspicious activity, please contact us immediately.

  • Your payments are protected the same way as in Internet Banking.

    We’ll continue to protect your account, but we won’t be able to sort out any problems you have with a retailer. You should contact them if there’s an issue with any goods or services you’ve bought.

  • We publish reports to help you see how we are performing. They set out data on our uptime, downtime, response and error rates. They are usually published quarterly, but the first report only covers two weeks.

    To find out more about how we are doing, take a look at our Open Banking performance reports.

    If you're more interested in the technical side, take a look at the Open Banking Standard pages.