UK Bank Feeds – an update from Xero

Bookkeeping, News, Xero,

Since the advent of Open Banking in the UK, the reliability of bank feeds has been frustrating. We’ve helped numerous clients at various stages reauthorise their feeds, but been unsuccessful in as many cases, where the issue has arisen at the bank’s end. Xero recently issued an update, together with some reassurance, which may be helpful.

Alex Von Schirmeister is Xero’s Managing Director for the UK, so you can be sure if he’s posting about a subject, it’s important!

He recently posted a blog to the Xero website that talked about the reliability of bank feeds, and explained the various issues Xero has been facing. Here’s a summary:

  • Bank feeds offer streamlined reconciliation, and make it easier for business owners to keep track of their finances.
  • Xero has experienced some issues recently that have affected reliability of the bank feeds.
  • Open Banking was intended to make it easier for companies to share customer information, and control of their data. The transition to Open Banking has been painful for all parties.
  • The API to transfer data from the banks to companies like Xero had to be secure, and the transfer from Xero’s original choice, OpenWrks, to Tink, who acquired OpenWrks, created an extra level of changes that wasn’t envisaged. The second round of migration so soon after the first was unforeseen and Xero acknowledges that this caused problems for users.
  • The move to Tink has now been completed, and there are 70 banks connected to Xero, with new banks coming on stream all the time.
  • Some banks have been slow to get their technology into place. Whether Xero, Quickbooks or another platform, where the tech isn’t in place, a feed cannot be created.
  • The 90-day re-authentication requirement is under review and the Open Banking Implementation Entity is ‘scoping these changes’.
  • Xero will continue to develop the bank feeds, and to apply pressure to banks where necessary to improve the experience for its users.
  • You can see details of any current disruptions with UK bank feeds here.

You can read the full post on the Xero Blog.

Alex recommends seeking help from Support if you have any issues so they are aware of them and can work to find a speedy resolution. As ever if you struggle to make progress, and would like to ask us for help, we’re happy to help where we can!

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