midata minimum standard
1. Overview
1.1. Banks who have committed to deliver midata downloads will provide personal current
account customers, registered for online banking, with their own current account
transaction data, on demand, in electronic format.
1.2. This data will be available for customers to access and download, anonymised as
appropriate, and provided in a format that is consistent with this agreed industrystandard.
1.3. Midata downloads will be available for existing customers with personal current
accounts, via secure online banking channels. Midata will not be available for closed
accounts.
2. midata minimum standard
2.1. 12 months of transactional data in a single download
2.2. CSV format
2.3. Customer name, sort-code, account number will not be provided, or will be anonymised
as appropriate.
2.4. The following columns of data will be included:
2.4.1. Date: The day the transaction occurred, listed chronologically with the most
recent transaction at the top. Format of date: DD/MM/YYYY
2.4.2. Type: The reference code given to a transaction
2.4.3. Merchant/descriptor field partially anonymised as appropriate.
2.4.4. Debit/Credit: Displays the monies paid in and out of the account. Information
provided in a single column (indicating whether a transaction is a debit or credit
using the symbols -/+),
2.4.5. Running Balance: Provides an account balance after each transaction.
2.4.6. The columns will be titled: Date, Type, Merchant/Description Debit/Credit,
Balance.
2.4.7. Arranged overdraft limit at point of download.
3. Example of midata minimum standard
Draft midata minimum standard
Date
Type
Merchant/
Description
Debit/Credit
Balance
04/03/2014
VIS
Boots the Chemist
£5.00
£260.00
04/03/2014
DD
Fitness First
-£50.00
£255.00
03/03/2014
ATM
ATM withdrawal
-£100.00
£305.00
03/03/2014
02/03/2014
01/03/2014
TRF
VIS
CSH
etc.
etc.
etc.
-£20.00
-£75.00
-£50.00
£405.00
£425.00
£500.00
Arranged
overdraft limit
04/03/2014
£1000.00
2
midata minimum standard – annexes
1. Time period
1.1
As per the standard, account providers will provide 12 months of transactional data in
a single download (where possible).
1.2
The end date of this period shall be no more than 31 calendar days prior to the date
of the download.
1.3
However if, following the setting of the end date under 1.2, fewer than 12 months of
data are available to the customer (for example if the account is a new account),
account providers will provide as many months of data as possible.
2. Approach to descriptor field anonymisation 1
2.1
Account providers who have committed to providing midata downloads will redact the
content of the descriptor field of each transaction in accordance with its transaction
type, as follows:
2.1.1
2.1.2
Debits from the account:
•
ATM transactions:
un-redacted.
•
Debit card / point of sale transactions:
redact numerical data only.
•
Direct debit payments:
redact numerical data only.
•
Fees, charges and interest:
redact numerical data only.
•
Other transactions:
full redaction.
Credits to the account:
•
2.2
All transactions:
full redaction.
Each account provider will allocate each of its transaction types to the most
appropriate category above and perform any corresponding redaction to the data
before providing the download to the customer.
2.3
1
Each redacted character shall be replaced by a single *.
The Information Commissioner’s Office has noted that the term “anonymised” could inadvertently
mislead midata users on the grounds that comparison tool providers may request (or already
possess) additional identifying information about individuals that would in effect “de-anonymise”
the data. Industry recognises this risk, and as such will seek to avoid the use of this terminology
within customer-facing communications.
3
3. Account balance
3.1
For positive balances, account totals represented in the ‘balance’ field will not include
funds available through the authorised overdraft limit.
3.2
For negative balances, account totals represented in the ‘balance’ field will show the
amount that the account is in debit, indicated by a ‘-‘ sign.