Westpac pushes back on open banking plans
(13 April 2018 – Australia) Westpac says in order to limit new, systemic risks that the introduction of Open Banking will bring, banks need more time to design and test the regime given the high costs and security issues involved.
In a submission to Treasury, Westpac says the introduction of the new reforms will cost the bank A$200m to implement and A$250m in additional fraud costs to cover an expected rise in phishing attacks.
The bank also described Treasury’s proposals to start the 12-month timeframe within the coming weeks as “unfeasible”, given that rules and standards covering safety and liability issues have yet to be agreed.
CBA is also said to be calling for initial limits on the type of data to be shared and a phased introduction across products beginning twelve months after standards have been agreed.