Mastercard Open Banking

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Autobanking

Mastercard Open Banking is one of the three banking solutions Uniconta offers. Below is a brief description of the three solutions. You can read more about each solution via the link under each point.

Mastercard Open Banking
Mastercard creates a connection between the bank and Uniconta. It does not require an agreement with the bank. The connection is established via mobile bank login and MitID.

  • The solution covers most Danish banks and many foreign banks
  • Bank transactions are automatically retrieved 4 times a day

Read more about Mastercard Open Banking and the setup in Uniconta in this article.

Bank Connect
Bank Connect is a collaboration between the Association of Regional Banks, Local Banks and the three data centres:

  • TCS
  • OCI
  • Bank data

Common solution for the majority of Danish banks. With the collaboration between the three data centres, the joint solution Bank Connect will apply to more than 60 banks. Among these, 14 of the 16 largest banks in Denmark – among others. Jyske Bank, Nykredit Bank, Sydbank, Handelsbanken, Spar Nord Bank and Arbejdernes Landsbank.

Uniconta will collect account statements daily or several times a day for the accounts that are registered. The bank transactions are loaded directly into the bank reconciliation.

  • Danske Bank and Nordea are not part of this solution
  • Is part of autobanking, which is a Uniconta Add-in
  • Possibility to receive today's bank transactions
  • An agreement must be made with the bank

Read more about bank connect and the setup in Uniconta here.

Nordea
Is a direct integration to Nordea. As a business customer of Nordea, you will be able to make an agreement with them so that Uniconta picks up yesterday's bank transactions every morning, which are loaded directly into the bank reconciliation.

  • Is part of autobanking, which is a Uniconta Add-in
  • Possibility of Danish, Swedish, Norwegian and Finnish accounts with Nordea
  • Only yesterday's banking transactions
  • An agreement must be made with the bank

Read more about Nordea and the setup in Uniconta here.

 

Connecting

Mastercard Open Banking is part of autobanking, which is a Uniconta Add-in. Autobanking is activated automatically when you start using the solution.
Note: Previously called Aiia

Please note the following:

  • Remember to unregister previous banking solutions from bank connect or Nordea. There can only be one banking solution per bank account, otherwise transactions will be duplicated
  • The Mastercard Open Banking connection is not created specifically for the bank account that is active. The connection is created for the Uniconta accounts and the bank accounts you choose to share with Uniconta. Read more in the section 'Registration of bank accounts in Uniconta' about how the bank transactions from Mastercard are linked to bank accounts in Uniconta
  • Are you an accountant and want access to transactions from your bookkeeping customers' bank? Read more here: Mastercard Open Banking for accountants with bookkeeping accounts - Uniconta
  • If you already have an account with Mastercard, read the section further down in the article.

The connection is created under bank reconciliation. At least one bank account must be created in bank reconciliation in order to create a connection.

Click the menu item 'connect to bank'. A window will now open where Mastercard guides you through the setup.

In the first dialog, you can choose to use an existing profile, otherwise just click Accept.

You will then go through the following:

  • Select bank - here you select the bank you want to register. If it is not in the list, you can search for it
  • Login method - In most banks, you must choose a login method. Here you will typically choose a Business login
  • Select bank accounts - you will be shown the bank accounts you can choose to share with Mastercard Open Banking
  • Confirm bank accounts - now select the account(s) that Uniconta should have access to
  • Enter an email address for the Mastercard agreement. A 6-digit confirmation code will be sent to this email address, which must be entered on the next screen.

A connection has now been established between Uniconta and Mastercard Open Banking and the bank transactions will automatically be loaded into Uniconta going forward. The first update will take place within a few minutes.

 

Registration of bank accounts in Uniconta

In bank reconciliation, you must create all the bank accounts you have registered via Mastercard.

Here it is important to fill in the following fields:

  • Bank account and/or
  • IBAN number

When loading transactions from the bank, Uniconta searches for bank accounts that match the Bank account or IBAN number. If no bank account is found, the transactions are not loaded and this is reported as an error in the bank log. Read more here.

By default, Uniconta does not load transactions of the type Internal Counter Entry, but by setting the parameter 'Load internal transactions' they will be loaded. In the bank log, you can see whether you are receiving transactions of this type. Read more about the bank log here.

A transaction of the type Internal Counter Entry is an internal transaction between your own bank accounts, i.e. it does not come from outside, and in most cases is made by the bank itself. According to Mastercard, transactions typically get this type when the bank credits interest or deducts fees, and at the same time makes an internal counter entry.

Note: 'load bank statement into journal' cannot be used with Mastercard, as it is not checked whether the records have been loaded before. This is only possible when loading to bank reconciliation.

Note: Bank account and IBAN number can be retrieved via the menu Functions/View registered bank accounts. Read more in the section 'View registered bank accounts'.

 

Automatic loading of bank transactions

Once the connection has been established, Uniconta will retrieve transactions from the bank accounts linked to the Mastercard agreement several times a day.

Note: Uniconta does not have a direct connection to the bank, but receives bank transactions from Mastercard. Mastercard retrieves bank transactions from the bank 4 times a day.

In order for the bank transactions to be loaded into bank reconciliation, a bank account must be created in bank reconciliation that matches the bank account information in the bank. This is described in the above section 'Registration of bank accounts in Uniconta'.

There are three dates and a status field that you should know, as they provide a good overview of the integration and the update via Mastercard.

  • Last date
    The date of the most recently loaded bank transaction
  • Last bank request
    The time when new bank transactions were last checked at mastercard open banking
  • Last synchronisation time
    The time when Mastercard last synchronised data with the bank.
  • Status
    Indicates whether the individual bank account has an active connection to Mastercard or whether the connection is inactive and therefore needs to be renewed.
    In the above, there are three active bank accounts. There are two bank accounts that are inactive and therefore no transactions are retrieved from the bank. A manual synchronization must be run to re-establish the connection to Mastercard. Read the section 'Renew the connection at Mastercard Open Banking'

If you are wondering why some bank transactions are missing, it may be because Mastercard has not synchronised with the bank. As mentioned earlier, they do this 4 times a day.
In the above example, Mastercard synchronised with the bank at 06:22. Uniconta is therefore fully updated with the bank transactions from Mastercard, as the last bank request was completed at 10:11.

Note: It is possible to force a synchronization with Mastercard and the bank. Read how in the section 'Manual synchronization'

In addition, you can also see the activity in the bank log. Read more here.

AutoBanking Status in the Company overview
AutoBanking status is also available in the following screens

  • Company overview
  • Change Company overview

Here you will have a good overview of which accounts need to have the connection to Mastercard renewed.

The colours of the status in the company overview are defined as follows:

  • Active (green): All bank accounts linked to Mastercard have status Active
  • Inactive (yellow): If just one bank account has status Inactive
  • Blank: The accounts have no bank accounts linked to Mastercard

Synchronise

Uniconta does not have a direct connection to the bank, but receives bank transactions from Mastercard. Mastercard retrieves bank transactions from the bank 4 times a day.

It is possible to force a synchronization with Mastercard and the bank by using the menu item 'Synchronise'

After completed synchronization, Uniconta will load bank transactions for the last 7 days immediately afterwards.

Note: The bank may require that the connection needs a supervised login. In that situation, a dialog will appear where you can log in to the bank.

 

Bank log

In the bank log, all communication with Mastercard is registered and any errors can also be seen here.

The log is opened via the above menu item. The bank log is described in detail here.

 

Retrieve bank transactions

In some situations, it may be necessary to retrieve bank transactions yourself from a specific period. This will typically be in connection with starting up Mastercard Open Banking.
Note: Uniconta automatically retrieves bank transactions, so there will normally be no need to use this function on a daily basis.

The function 'Retrieve transactions' retrieves bank transactions from the bank account and period specified in the dialog box. For most banks, transactions can be retrieved up to 2 years back in time. For Nordea, it is only 1 year's transactions.
It is recommended to only use this function if bank transactions are missing.

 

Transaction details

Uniconta loads all the information that is available from the bank.

Transaction details are loaded in the Info field.
Note: In some situations, it can take up to 24 hours before we receive transaction details from the bank (the text in the Info field). This varies from bank to bank.

 

The Currency and Amount currency fields are filled in if the transaction is in a different currency than the bank account.

 

Register multiple banks and/or bank accounts

An unlimited number of banks and bank accounts can be registered to a Mastercard agreement.

Registering multiple banks and/or bank accounts is done via the menu item 'connect to bank'.

If a Mastercard Open Banking connection has already been created for the current accounts, a confirmation code is immediately sent to the email address linked to the agreement.

You then go through the same flow as described in the section 'Connecting'

 

Link multiple accounts to an existing Mastercard agreement

Multiple Uniconta accounts can be linked to the same Mastercard agreement.

Open the accounts you want to register to an existing agreement.

The registration is done via the menu item 'connect to bank'.

Select 'Continue with existing profile'

 

Change email address at Mastercard

There may be situations where you want to change the email address used for the Mastercard agreement.

This can be done via the menu item 'Mastercard Open Banking Hub' under Functions. Read the section 'Mastercard Open Banking Hub' for further information.

This requires that you have access to the original email in order to do it. Under Profile in the hub, you can request a recovery code that is sent to the original email. Afterwards, you can change the email via this link

 

Unregister bank account

If you want to unregister a specific bank account so that transactions are no longer retrieved from this account, this must be done via 'Mastercard Open Banking Hub'. Read more under the section 'Mastercard Open Banking Hub'.

 

Unregister the Mastercard connection

A Mastercard connection can be unregistered. This means that the connection between Uniconta and the current Mastercard agreement is deleted.
The Mastercard agreement will not be deleted, but will be disabled at Mastercard. If you want to delete your agreement completely, you must use 'Mastercard Open Banking Hub'. Read more under the section 'MasterCard Open Banking Hub'.

This can be done via the menu item 'unregister financialinstitution' under Functions.

 

Renew the connection at Mastercard

The connection to Mastercard must be renewed every 90 days for security reasons and to confirm that the agreement is still active.

In some situations, it may be necessary to renew the agreement earlier than 90 days. This may be because the bank has made some changes.

Use the menu item 'Synchronise'. If the bank indicates that the connection needs a supervised login, you will be redirected to log in to the bank.

If you are an accountant and do not have the rights to renew the connection at Mastercard, you can select the menu item 'View registered bank accounts' under Functions.. If you send the URL shown on the screen to your customer, they can use the link to renew the connection at Mastercard.

 

View registered bank accounts

View registered bank accounts provides a quick overview of the banks and bank accounts linked to the current accounts.


At the beginning of the log, there is a Mastercard Open Banking agreement number. This is a so-called Consent-Id and it has a direct relation to the email address that was specified when the agreement was created.

This is followed by a list of the bank account(s) linked to the current Uniconta accounts.

The following information can be read per bank account:

  • Bank
    The name of the bank
  • Bank account
    BBAN number for the bank account
  • IBAN
    IBAN number for the bank account
  • Balance
    The current bank balance in the account's currency
  • Owner
    The legal owner of the bank account
  • Last synchronisation time
    This is the time when Mastercard last synchronised data with the bank
  • URL
    This URL can be copied and pasted into a browser

 

Mastercard Open Banking Hub

Mastercard Open Banking Hub is a portal where you can see and manage which services you have chosen to share your financial data with. This is also where you can see which banks and bank accounts are linked to the individual services.

To open it, select the menu item 'Mastercard Open Banking' under Functions.

 

Bank reconciliation

It is recommended to retrieve the ‘Info’ field, as it contains additional information regarding the transaction.

 

Duplicated bank transactions

In rare cases, duplicated bank transactions may occur.
Duplicates can occur when the bank sends an updated version of the same transaction to Mastercard. This will typically be when the text has been changed from 'Transfer' to a more informative text, or the status has been changed from 'Reserved' to 'Posted' in the bank. The problem is that the 'new' transaction gets a new ID and is therefore unknown in Uniconta and is therefore loaded. Uniconta also receives information that the 'old' transaction has changed status to 'deleted'.
Uniconta therefore has logic that finds the 'old' transaction and deletes it, if possible.
It will be stated in the bank log if there are duplicated bank transactions and whether Uniconta has been able to delete the transaction.

The example below is from the bank log. Uniconta has deleted the 'old' transaction here. The date, text and amount are stated so you can identify the transaction.

The example below is from the bank log. In this situation, Uniconta has not been able to delete the 'old' transaction, as it has been transferred to the journal. The date, text and amount are stated so you can identify the transaction.

Note: the 'old' transaction cannot be deleted either if it has been posted in Uniconta.

Duplicates will also occur if you have not unregistered previous banking solutions from bank connect or Nordea. There can only be one banking solution per bank account.

Filtered bank transactions

The following bank transactions are not loaded into Uniconta.

  • Bank transactions that have status = Reserved. This is typically Nordea that has this type of transactions. I.e. if the amount is only reserved in the bank, they are not loaded. As soon as they are posted, they are included.
  • Bank transactions of the type 'Zero Balancing'. Zero Balancing is used to keep the bank account at a specific balance, and therefore you have opposite transactions. This is typically Danske Bank that has this type of transactions.
  • Missing bank transactions from Nordea - You may experience that not all transactions come in. This may be because Nordea sends both the bank transaction and the fee with the same id, whereby one of the transactions is filtered out in the system. The case lies with Nordea. There is currently no timeline for a solution.

Receiving no bank transactions

  • This may be because the connection to Mastercard needs to be renewed. This must be done every 90 days for security reasons and to confirm that the agreement is still active. Read the section 'Renew the connection at Mastercard'.
  • Missing bank transactions may be due to issues at Mastercard.
  • If Nordea is used as the bank, there may be delays in loading bank transactions, as Uniconta only loads transactions that have status 'Posted'.
  • There may be a delay in when the bank sends the transactions to Mastercard. Sometimes it is not until the next day that they manage to send them. This means that you may experience that some transactions are not there in the morning, but only later in the day.
  • It can also happen that an account is "orphaned", i.e. disabled at Mastercard. This is often the case if the automatic synchronization has stopped, i.e. the synchronization date is no longer being updated. Here it is recommended to try the following:
    • Create a new bank connection via Uniconta (here you as a user should pretend that you want to connect a new bank connection)
    • Then click on "Continue without updating"
    • Then "Connect more accounts"
    • You will then be redirected to the page where you can select a bank. Here you must select the bank accounts that are disabled in Uniconta
    • Select all accounts with a tick or so that it lights up blue and click Continue.
    • End the process with the last steps.

Chromium

If you experience an error message with "Unable to to find or restore Chromium binaries." the solution is to restart your computer.

Securities accounts

Securities accounts are not supported due to PSD2.

FIK

There is a difference between whether the individual banks only send a total transaction for FIK or whether they send the individual transactions. Among others, Sparekassen Kronjylland and Sydbank can be set up to send all transactions. It is the bank that must set it up.

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