Getting Started

  1. Open access or regulated access?

    Three of our Open Banking APIs are available to everyone, without registration. Our open access APIs are:

    • Products and service list
    • ATM list
    • Branch list

    You need to register in order to work with regulated APIs, and we explain how you do this in Step 3. Once you are registered and depending on your permissions you’ll be able to access:

    • Account and Transactions
    • Payment Initiation
    • Confirmation of Funds

    Find a list of our API products and descriptions on Our APIs.

  2. Are you registered with the Open Banking directory?

    To access our regulated Open Banking APIs, you need to be registered with the Open Banking directory

    Once registered, you’ll be able to use our regulated Open Banking APIs and those provided by any Open Banking compliant bank. However, there are two types of registration: Sandbox and Production.

  3. Sandbox or Production?

    If you’re new to Open Banking or if you’re using a version of an API for the first time, you’ll need to start with Sandbox access. That gives you read/write access to Sandbox versions of our regulated APIs, using realistic sample data. Registering with the Open Banking directory for Sandbox access is free.

    To use our live APIs, you’ll need to be registered in the Open Banking directory for production access. That requires approval from the FCA or an equivalent regulator.

  4. Register an app

    Once you’re in the Open Banking directory, you can create your first app.

    This happens on the Open Banking directory website, where you need to create a Software Statement Assertion (SSA). This is a certificate signed by the Open Banking directory that grants a particular application access to regulated Open Banking APIs.

    You then register the SSA to your apps list on the Santander UK Sandbox developer portal.

    When the SSA has successfully registered, your client ID and client secret will be displayed on the screen. Please take note of the client secret as this won’t be available on the next screens.

  5. One final check before you can start developing!

    The final step is to check on the App page that your application is in “Production” and if that’s a yes, good news that’s you ready to make your first API call and start developing!

    However, if your application is in “Development”, you will need to select the “Upgrade to Production” button on your application and wait until the status changes to “Production”.

    For more details on our APIs and testing with Santander, check out our Implementation Guide on Open Banking's Developer Zone.

  6. Subscribe to APIs

    Once your app is registered with Santander UK, you can subscribe to the APIs you want to work with.

    You will receive an email confirmation when the subscription is complete.