NIST has released Draft NISTIR 8389, Cybersecurity Considerations for Open Banking Technology and Emerging Standards, for public comment.

“Open banking” (OB) refers to a new financial ecosystem that provides more choices to individuals and small and mid-size businesses concerning the movement of their money, as well as information between financial institutions. Open banking is already being used in several countries around the world, however, it is yet to be adopted in the United States. Anytime a system becomes more transparent, a potential for abuse occurs, and for open banking, that would be at the API level.

This report contains a definition and description of open banking, its activities, enablers, and cybersecurity, and privacy challenges. This report is not intended to be a promotion of OB within the U.S but rather a factual description of the technology and how various countries have implemented it. Any proposal of a specific API that would be compatible across heterogeneous systems was purposely avoided in this report.

The public comment period is open through March 3, 2022. See the publication details for a copy of the draft and instructions for submitting comments.

NOTE:  A call for patent claims is included on page iv of this draft.  For additional information, see the Information Technology Laboratory (ITL) Patent Policy--Inclusion of Patents in ITL Publications.