HSBC will be the first major British bank to launch Connected Money app, which centralizes information about customers’ accounts at other banks as well. The launch is due in April this year.

According to the Financial Times, this became a reality owing to the new regulations designed to boost competition and make it easier to switch providers.

In particular, in UK Open Banking rules came into force at the beginning of 2018, under which banks are now required to give third parties access to customer data, provided the individuals give consent to allow alternative providers such as technology groups or retailers to provide more tailored financial services.

Connected Money will feature such services as personal spending analysis or purchase round-ups, which transfer small amounts of money to a savings account when customers make purchases.

Earlier these types of services were introduced by online-only banks such as Monzo, Starling and Atom Bank.

“They’re good companies, doing thoughtful things based on customer insight — our skill will be to keep up and then in places have an advantage on them,” said Stuart Haire, HSBC’s UK head of retail banking and wealth management.

At the same time Jason Napier, head of European banks research at UBS, suggested that “over a longer period we would expect good ideas to be copied and the range of capabilities offered by large banks to converge”.

“While some have hailed open banking as the biggest shake-up to retail banking for a generation, many figures think it will take several years to have a serious effect on the shape of the market,” the publication writes.

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