The Read/Write API is the core of UK open banking: the set of APIs that let a regulated provider read account data and initiate payments with the customer's consent. It is organised into five profiles, sharing a common data model, and the current version is v4.0.1. This page explains what a client gets from each profile.
The five profiles
The Read/Write API is split into profiles, each covering one capability. They sit on a shared data model, so concepts such as accounts and amounts are described the same way across them.
What each profile gives a client
Account and Transaction
Read access to account information: balances, transactions, standing orders, direct debits, parties, statements and products. This is the profile behind income, affordability and referencing. See the account and transaction API.
Payment Initiation
Start a payment from the customer's account: domestic, scheduled, standing order, international and file payments, with a status lifecycle you can act on. See the payment initiation API.
Confirmation of Funds
Ask the bank a single yes or no question, whether a specified amount is available, without seeing the balance. A narrow capability used mainly by card issuers.
Variable Recurring Payments
Set up a consent to take recurring payments within customer-defined limits, for sweeping between a customer's own accounts and, now, commercial payments. See open banking payments.
Event Notification
Receive real-time notifications of relevant events, such as a consent being revoked or a resource changing, so your data and state stay current. See event notifications.
The shared data model
The profiles are not five unrelated APIs; they share a common data model, so an account, an amount, a party or a status means the same thing wherever it appears. This is what makes integration tractable: once you understand how the model describes, say, an amount with its currency, you understand it across reads and payments. In v4, some structural fields were reclassified, for example Meta and Links became conditional, and a new OBIntermediaryAgent class was added. See what changed in v4.
Versioning
The Read/Write API is versioned independently and currently sits at v4.0.1, published 18 March 2026, with release notes dated 1 April 2026. During transitions, a bank and a provider can be on different minor versions, so robust integrations handle more than one. You target a specific version and track release notes for breaking changes; the standards tracker records the current version of each part.
From the data consumer's side
You do not implement these profiles; you buy their output. But the profile map is a useful buying lens: confirm your provider supports the profiles you need (almost always Account and Transaction, often Payment Initiation and VRP), on the current version, with Event Notification if you rely on fresh data. The questions on choosing a provider map directly onto this.
How Credit Canary does it
Credit Canary consumes the Read/Write API through a regulated provider across the profiles you need, and returns enriched results: income and affordability from Account and Transaction, pay by bank and VRP from Payment Initiation, freshness from Event Notification, in one platform with bureau and identity data.
Common questions
What is the Open Banking Read/Write API?
It is the core set of UK open banking APIs that let a regulated provider read account data and initiate payments with consent. It is organised into five profiles, sharing a common data model, and the current version is v4.0.1.
What are the five Read/Write API profiles?
Account and Transaction (read account information), Payment Initiation (start payments), Confirmation of Funds (check an amount is available), Variable Recurring Payments (recurring account-to-account payments) and Event Notification (real-time updates).
What is the current Read/Write API version?
v4.0.1, published 18 March 2026, with release notes dated 1 April 2026. It adopts FAPI 1 Advanced and made payload signature verification mandatory.
Do I need to implement the Read/Write API myself?
Usually not. A regulated provider implements it and exposes the capability to you. Understanding the profiles helps you choose a provider and design your journeys, but the integration work sits with them.
Related pages
Primary sources
- Read/Write API v4.0.1 profile (checked 14 Oct 2026).
- Read/Write API v4.0.1 resources and data models (checked 14 Oct 2026).
Credit Canary provides open banking through fumopay limited, an FCA-authorised account information and payment initiation service provider (FRN 925689), of which Credit Canary is an agent. Underlying bank connectivity is also provided by fumopay limited. This page is an evergreen reference and is reviewed and dated; it is not regulatory, legal or financial advice.