6 May 2024, London

CRIF, Europe’s leading provider of open banking services, has been named as an authorised supplier by the Crown Commercial Service (CCS)

The move will enable CRIF to offer its suite of solutions to the UK government and other public and third party organisations, as part of the CCS’s ambitions to provide a one stop shop for open banking services for the whole of the public sector.

The news comes as government bodies increasingly look to technologies such as open banking to drive efficiency.

HM Revenue and Customs became the first tax authority in the world to launch open banking payments, enabling individuals and businesses to pay taxes directly from their own accounts to HMRC, eliminating the need for costly card charges or the chance of errors when making payments.

The value of tax payments made to HMRC via these services increased by nearly 39% in January 2024, compared to January 2023, with a total value of £3.3 billion*.

As the UK government looks to capitalise on the efficiency and cost savings that open banking services can bring, CRIF’s suite of services will now be available to central departments and other public sector organisations, from access to account, to categorisation and advanced analytics.

Sara Costantini, Regional Director for the UK & Ireland at CRIF said:

“Open banking services provide people and businesses with extra control, security and certainty when accessing financial services or making payments.

“Millions of people and businesses in the UK are now using open banking services on a daily basis with banks and other financial providers. It’s right that the public sector should now look to offer the same level of choice in its own services.  

“We’re proud to have been appointed by Crown Commercial Service as an official supplier of open banking services and we’re looking forward to having the opportunity to work with government departments to both drive efficiency and provide a better level public services.”