Central Bank of Kenya releases plan to implement Open Banking

The document, titled Kenya National Payments System Vision and Strategy 2021 – 2025 and released in December 2020, stresses the regulator’s commitment to establishing a regulatory landscape that’s conducive to innovation, as well as embracing Open Banking and APIs, among other key areas of focus. In the document, the CBK says it will work to define standards for API development and mandate data portability with hopes that more options and innovative solutions will be made available for Kenya-based users to choose from.

These standards will include API specifications for identification, verification, and authentication; customer account information/data access; transaction initiation; and formats and coding languages for APIs. To address the risk associated with opening up data from financial institutions to third-parties, the CBK says it will ‘define clear risk management frameworks and standards, including providing clarity on liability and consumer protection’.

The central bank says the National Treasury and Planning is currently finalising a so-called Digital Finance Policy, which will be articulated around four main strategic objectives: developing an open infrastructure; ensuring consumer protection; installing proper financial system regulation, and nurturing future development.