ING has announced, following the closure of the Yolt cashbook app last year, to phase out its Yolt business-to-business Open Banking activities as well.

This was reported by the bank on 30th August.

“After a thorough evaluation of all options, in the context of the rapidly evolving and changing market, ING has concluded that it is not feasible to realize its ambitions with Yolt,” ING said in a press release.

Yolt has informed their customers about the decision and the planned phasing out of their services. Until the termination of the service, Yolt will continue to fulfil its contractual obligations to meet the expectations of its customers.

The aim is to complete the phase-out process by the end of April 2023.

In winding down the Yolt cash app, according to ING, it was instead to focus on its B2B arm, Yolt Technology Services (YTS).

Yolt only acquired 1.5 million users as of 2020, suggesting the app couldn’t compete against the wide range of neobanks with advanced PFM tools and personal finance apps like Chip and Moneybox that expanded beyond PFM to include investment services.

It aimed to funnel resources to its proprietary Open Banking platform, YTS, to help businesses build out their respective capabilities and aid the wider adoption of Open Banking.

To that end, YTS secured a PSD2 license from the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority, which meant it could take full control of its Open Banking operations rather than relying on its clients’ licenses.

The license put it on the same footing as competitors like Yapily and TrueLayer that already had FCA licenses.

Open banking adoption is accelerating, but competitive pressure among industry players points toward consolidation.