HSBC Holdings PLC (LSE:HSBA) has been ticked off by the UK’s competition watchdog after the high street lender admitted to providing incorrect information on fees, charges and rates under its open banking agreement.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) rebuked the FTSE 100-listed bank after uncovering breaches of its responsibilities under open banking – which allows third-party financial service providers open access to consumer banking, transaction, and other financial data from lenders – on more than 50 different occasions over the past five years.
HSBC self-reported the lapses in June last year and has since taken action to address them.
The CMA said it follows previous open banking data breaches by the bank which made them “especially disappointing.” It said it would not be taking official enforcement action given HSBC’s moves to “put things right”, but stressed it will monitor compliance “closely.”
Open banking was launched in 2017 and the UK’s banks have agreed to make their data more available and in a more standardised format so that customers can find better, or more suited, deals.
Last week, the CMA marked the five-year milestone of open banking and said active users in the UK had risen to 6.5mln.
But the HSBC breaches suggest there is still work to be done.