The increasing importance of certification to global adoption is being shown by the participation of government and regulator representatives in OpenID Foundation working groups and in our membership. It is also quantified in the uptick in certification services. The OpenID Certification Program continues its success in 2021 with over 500 certifications of almost 200 implementations and counting.

The program’s increase in Financial-grade API (FAPI) certifications in 2020 with banks and fintechs in the UK, Australia and other jurisdictions increasing involvement in how conformance to the FAPI specification is displayed in the Foundation’s listing of certifications. The Foundation anticipates a continued increase of certifications in 2021 with jurisdictions including the US, Canada, Bahrain and Brazil adopting the FAPI standard and leveraging FAPI conformance and certification.

The certification program will continue to expand with the implementation of eKYC & IDA conformance tests and certification in 2H 2021. The evolution is supported in part by directed funding led by Foundation member, yes.com. The Foundation anticipates other members following yes’ lead to support program extensions and encourages other members to join support for international expansion.

The fifth year of the certification program has seen a significant need for the in depth technical knowledge and experience that is required to process certification requests. The process often includes team members helping many through the conformance testing and the certification process. As FAPI certifications have increased, these requests require additional time as an increasing international set of testers are new to self-certification.

The OpenID Foundation continues to heavily subsidize the certification program exceeding 70% in 2020. The Foundation’s board of directors understand the strategic importance of the certification program in ensuring robust, conformant implementations. But they also have a duty to ensure the financial viability of the program and the Foundation.

At the OpenID Foundation’s annual board of directors meeting on Thursday, February 18, 2021, the directors reviewed and considered the current state of the program and unanimously approved increases to the certification fees. These increases will go into effect March 1, 2021 with the goal to drive towards a self-sustaining program in 2021 and beyond.

Certification fees will be as follows as of March 1, 2021:

Connect Certifications

• Member $700
• Non-member $3,500

Financial-grade API (FAPI) Certifications

• Member $1,000
• Non-member $5,000

The Foundation will continue to expand its outreach efforts in 2021 via practical technical workshops to provide education and guidance on FAPI conformance and certifications to best reach the community at large. The Foundation successfully hosted a series of these workshops in the UK with the Open Banking Implementation Entity (OBIE) in 2020. We’ll use these prior successes as templates in hosting workshops in new jurisdictions with partners and sponsors in 2021 with workshops soon to be announced and published on the Foundation’s “events” page.

Any questions or comments can be directed to director@openid.net. Thank you for your continued support of and contributions to the OpenID Foundation.