New ‘Open Banking’ rules due to come into effect on Saturday are making waves across the media. The rules will enable customers of nine UK banks to share detailed personal financial data with third parties authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority, as part of a drive to help consumers compare deals, view all their money on one screen, and ultimately save money.

It all amounts to a potential revolution in financial services, in which consumers should be able to effortlessly track their expenditure, make smarter money decisions, and understand how they can make their money work harder. But according to experts cited in the Daily Telegraph, people making use of this online banking revolution will be at greater risk of bank transfer scams.

Which? is among those to have raised concerns – the consumer group warns on its website: ‘Open banking should give you greater control over your money, but it raises critical questions about data privacy, security, and financial exclusion.’ And The Guardian asked in an article on Monday: ‘Open banking: radical shake-up, or a threat to your private data?’

Opinions differ on how dramatic the changes are likely to be, and some experts have predicted that open banking is likely to get off to a slow start because awareness is low. Which? recently reported that 92% of the public have never even heard of open banking. It’s thought that the first developments could be the introduction of smartphone or tablet apps that link all of users’ current accounts in one place, giving consumers a clearer picture of their finances.

Samantha Seaton, CEO of financial management technology platform Moneyhub, predicts ‘a positive shift towards a more personal level of banking, with decisions based on consumers’ true financial lifestyle and no longer limited to non-personal data’. And Victor Trokoudes, chief executive of financial assistant app Plum, has suggested that banking products will become commodities or utilities as a result of the changes.

There’s even been talk of tech giants such as Google making big inroads into banking, as the entire industry is disrupted by the new reforms. But, writing in Computer Weekly, Karl Flinders says he doubts that Google – or for that matter any internet giant – would want to be a bank. ‘There is a huge difference between banks and internet companies and tech startups when it comes to regulation,’ he notes.

Whatever the eventual impact of open banking, it’s worth pointing out that although the deadline to implement the initiative is 13 January, only Allied Irish Bank, Danske, Lloyds Banking Group and Nationwide are completely ready. Five of the nine banks (Bank of Ireland, Barclays, HSBC, RBS and Santander) have been allowed extra time to comply with the new rules. So we should probably reserve judgment on open banking for the time being.