Open Banking

Open Banking allows consumers to safely share their personal data held by businesses.

What this means in practice is that Police Bank, as a designated ‘data holder’, can transfer your data to ‘Accredited Data Recipients’ with your consent.

This is done through Application Programming Interfaces, or ‘APIs’. These APIs effectively provide a bridge between two or more software applications, letting us connect with third party providers of your choice to share your data.

You’ll always be asked to provide your consent before an API can connect with your Police Bank account(s).

Right now, you can only share your Police Bank data with other organisations (and they have to be registered as Accredited Data Recipients) – we can’t receive data from other providers just yet, but we are in the process of getting that approval from the ACCC.

Fortunately, the data sharing process is straightforward and secure. Here’s how it works:

1. First, you give your financial services provider permission to access your personal or business data. This is usually done on the provider’s website or app.
2. Next, your existing provider (in this case, Police Bank) verifies your identity using a One Time Password.
3. The new provider’s website or app will then link you to your existing provider’s platform, where you confirm the data you wish to share. You can see and manage the data you’ve consented to share and can withdraw consent at any time.
4. Your encrypted data is then transferred to the accredited provider safely and securely.

And that’s it!

Once we get your authorisation, we’ll transfer the selected data to your chosen provider(s). They’ll then use your data exclusively to provide the services or products you’ve consented to.

Importantly, your data is handled responsibly even after it’s been shared – once it’s no longer required, your data will either be deleted or de-identified.

Exactly how this is handled is up to the Accredited Data Recipient you share your data with – each will have their own specific policies in place for handling your data once it’s no longer needed.

Remember, this process is overseen by the ACCC and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) i.e. the Privacy Commissioner to ensure compliance with the Consumer Data Right rules, standards, and privacy safeguards.

Your data will always be handled securely and responsibly under the Open Banking framework.

Yes, Open Banking is very safe.

Both the financial institution sharing and receiving your data must be approved by the ACCC before they’re able to pass information to each other.

To receive these approvals, financial institutions must prove to the regulator that their IT systems are secure.

Your data is also encrypted before being shared, and can only be decrypted by your accredited service provider.

You also have full control over what’s shared, how shared data can be used, and how long service providers can use your data for.

After that time has elapsed, or if you choose to withdraw your consent, your accredited provider must delete or de-identify your data.

You can choose to share data from a range of your Police Bank accounts with accredited third parties.

Our Product APIs can provide approved organisations with access to product-specific information about:

• Transaction Accounts
• Savings Accounts
• Term Deposits
• Loans (Personal and Home), and
• Credit Cards.

You can even share data from your joint accounts as long as both parties have given their consent.

This data sharing is entirely under your control – you decide what data to share, who to share it with, and for how long.

You can share:

• Product Data, including details about all our products (such as interest rates, fees, and features) to help you compare our offers with those of other providers.
• Consumer Data, for transaction accounts, savings accounts, and term deposits. This data includes personal details, like your name and contact information, and account information, including account names, types, balances, and transaction history.

Exactly which data you share is entirely under your control, and you can withdraw your consent at any time.

Open Banking is available to all Police Bank members who meet certain criteria.

To be eligible, you must:

• be a member of Police Bank and hold an individual or joint account with us
• be at least 18 years old
• have at least one Police Bank account accessible through our Internet Banking service, and
• have provided us with your mobile number.

These requirements help us verify your identity and ensure your data is secure and being shared appropriately.

To manage your existing data sharing:

1. Sign into Internet Banking
2. Select ‘Accounts’
3. Select ‘Data Sharing’
4. If a dashboard popup does not automatically open, click on the ‘Launch Data Sharing Dashboard’ button.
5. Enter your Member Number and click ‘Next’.
6. Enter your One Time Password (OTP). This will be sent to your registered mobile number, then click ‘Next’.

Select ‘Manage Data Sharing’ (under Data Sharing Arrangements) and follow the prompts.

Not just yet – our priority has been to ensure our members can safely share their data with the service providers of their choice, not to receive data. As a result, Police Bank will begin work to become an Accredited Data Recipient.

Once we’re accredited, we’ll be able to receive data from other banks, with your consent, to help provide you with better services and product offerings.

We’ll update our members about this service once it becomes available.