Luke Massie, CEO of VibePay, comments on the latest online outage of UK banks Santander, HSBC, Halifax and Natwest:

“The disruption to the banking services of millions of people across the country today highlights a growing issue with legacy systems and unreliable technology. Cases of outages are regularly reported and the banking sector needs to resolve what is becoming a larger problem in terms of customer trust and satisfaction, as a result of the outdated technology.

“Open banking and PSD2 was legislation put forward for the UK to create consistency so products, like VibePay, could be built directly on top of. We have innovated and supported this process by building our ecosystem on open banking, but currently legacy banks are letting the sector down and making progress difficult with unreliable APIs.

“There needs to be revolution in the industry to drive an evolution in the way people manage their finances and transact. Currently the UK is lagging behind its peers in the US and Asia, who boast services such as CashApp or WeChat. Building a banking and payments system that offers empowerment in terms of actionable banking statements, simpler social transactions and a holistic overall experience will give UK consumers what they want and need. This is the future for the industry but it won’t become a reality until a shift away from traditional services to impactful, innovative new fintech solutions is implemented.”