What is screen scraping?
It’s when an app asks for your internet banking login, then signs in as you to read your accounts.
The app stores or uses your username and password, loads your bank’s website as if it were you, and copies what it finds. It can see everything your login can see.
What is Open Banking?
It’s the banking part of the Consumer Data Right, which lets you tell your bank to share your data with an app you choose.[1]
You’re sent to your bank’s own website or app, you pick the accounts to share, and you approve. The app never sees your password, and only gets the data you agreed to.
How do they compare?
Open Banking is built for sharing; screen scraping works around the lack of it.
| Open Banking | Screen scraping | |
|---|---|---|
| Your password | Never shared | Given to the app |
| Where you approve | Your bank’s own screen | Inside the app |
| What the app can see | The accounts and data you chose | Everything your login can see |
| How long it lasts | Up to 12 months, then you renew | Until you change your password |
| Who can use it | Accredited businesses and their CDR representatives | Anyone you give your login to |
Who looks after Open Banking?
The ACCC accredits the businesses that can receive your data, and the OAIC oversees privacy.[2]
You can look up any business on the government’s public register before you connect.[3]
If an app asks for your internet banking password, it isn’t using Open Banking.
Where can I read more?
Our guide covers consent, what’s shared and how to stop sharing: Open Banking in Australia, explained.