Questions about Open Banking?

Open Banking is a series of changes to UK regulation designed to give you more control over your data, allowing you to securely share your bank account and credit card information with banks and other regulated companies (often referred to as third party providers, or TPPs).

See all regulated providers enrolled with Open Banking.

This means when you share your data with a third party, you can securely access and manage your finances in a new, personalised way that can save you time and money. For example, with Open Banking you can have a single view of all your different bank accounts in the one place. It also creates opportunities to receive more competitive financial product offerings, and budgeting tools to help you manage your money.  

Under the Open Banking regulations, sharing your account information with a third party is achieved through APIs (which stands for Application Programming Interfaces). Put simply, APIs make it possible for the software at the third party company such as FreeAgent to securely obtain your consent and access the information from the software at Cashplus Bank. Another example of this is Uber using Google Maps’ API to work out the location of you and your driver.

Once you’ve provided your consent to the third party (ensure they’re in the Open Banking Directory), you’ll be redirected to the Cashplus Bank online login to enter your login details securely. You then confirm you’re happy to share the data with the third party, for example, your account name, number and sort code, and details of your transactions. 

Yes. Firstly, Open Banking is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, backed by the UK government and created by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). So, it’s designed with security at its heart.

Open Banking gives you more control over who you share your account information with online. You need to give explicit consent to share your data with the third party, what they can access, and how long for. Plus, you’ll never need to share your login details or passwords with anyone as you’ll always be redirected to this Cashplus online login. For this reason it’s very important you keep your Cashplus login details secure when connecting with other websites or apps by checking it’s a legitimate regulated provider and reading the T&C.

Here’s what we do to help keep your data safe with Open Banking:

• We never share your account details, personal or financial information without your explicit consent. You’re the only one who decides which companies you connect your account with or allow to take payments from your account.
• We’ll only ever share the specific account information that you’ve explicitly given permission to share, and nothing else.
• We check all companies who request access to your account on the Open Banking Directory, to ensure they are authorised and regulated. If they’re not listed in the directory, we’ll refuse them access to your account.
• Once you submit to sharing your account information with a regulated company, you’ll be sent to the Cashplus Bank online login and prompted to enter your password and verification code (generated via the Cashplus Bank app or Code Key), just like when you log in to Online Banking.
• We’ll make sure that any information you share is through our secure APIs.

As with anything involving your personal data, vigilance and caution are key to staying secure when sharing information with companies like retailers, banks and other financial services. Some simple rules for staying safe:

Don’t share your passwords

You’ll never need to share your login details or password with anyone when connecting your account information to another platform through Open Banking. This means when connecting your account, you’ll be sent to the Cashplus online login and prompted to enter your password and verification code (generated via the Cashplus banking app or Code Key), just like when you log in to Online banking.

Know who you’re sharing your information with and what you’re sharing

You have complete control over who you give consent to access your account information, as well as how much of it they can see. And you should always check a few things before you do:

• Make sure they’re registered in the Open Banking Directory and you're accessing the company website directly.
• When you’re redirected to the Cashplus online login to enter your login details make sure it’s a https:// website and check for the secure lock next to the URL in the browser. The beginning of the URL looks like: https://identity.ob.cashplus.com/Account/Login (along with your unique code extension). If you see ‘Advanced Payment Solutions Ltd’ referenced, this is the trading name of Cashplus Bank.
• Make sure you know how they’ll use your data and who, if anyone, they’ll share it with (regulated providers are obliged to make this information clear in their terms).
• Remember, every 90 days you'll need to confirm you're happy to continue sharing your data with the services you're connected to. Plus, you can always change your mind and withdraw your consent at any time via the third party provider or by logging in Cashplus Online banking and going to Settings > Manage Sharing Permissions.
• To be extra safe, log in to your Cashplus account once you’ve connected with them to ensure they’re included in the list of your connected platforms. Let us know if they don't appear or if something doesn't seem right straight away as they could be a fraudster. 

Only use regulated apps and websites

The Open Banking Directory includes all the apps and websites (including us, registered as APS Financial Ltd) regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and its European equivalent. Every company in the directory must conform to strict regulations to keep your data secure.

Be responsible

It’s up to you to check if an app or website is legitimate by checking the Open Banking Directory and you should always be alert to the possibility of fraudsters. If someone unsolicited is asking for your account login or password, if you have any doubt about who you’re talking to or that the app or website is fake, don’t give them any personal or financial information.

Keep an eye on your accounts

If you see something that doesn’t look right in your account, whether that’s a suspect transaction you didn’t make or irregular login times you don’t recognise, contact us immediately on 0330 024 0924.

1. Once you’ve checked that the third party website is registered with the Open Banking Directory, go to their app or website and read their T&Cs upon registering.
2. As part of the registration process, you’ll need to select Cashplus Banking, which can be found under our registered name: APS Financial Ltd.
3. You’ll then be redirected to a Cashplus login screen URL which looks like: https://identity.ob.cashplus.com/Account/Login (along with your unique code extension).
4. Enter in your Cashplus Bank login details.
5. They will be redirected back into the third party website.
6. You can go to Cashplus Online banking to check that the connection has been successful.

If you’ve given consent to share your data with a regulated bank or third party provider, to withdraw your consent at any time you can either do this via the third party provider or by logging in to Cashplus Online banking and go to Settings > Manage Sharing Permissions.

If you need help with a question or want to raise a complaint, the first thing you should do is contact our Customer Services team to see if we can resolve it for you. Try them on 0330 024 0924 or check the Contact Us page for details.

Otherwise, you can contact our complaints department direct:

• Send an email to [email protected]
• Send a letter to Cashplus Complaints Department, PO Box 5525, Manchester M61 0QS