It’s likely that you’ve heard the term ‘open banking’ in recent months. Similar to the blockchain, open banking has become the UK’s latest buzzword, with many jumping on the hype but not truly understanding what it entails.
Since the UK has been implementing open banking in the last couple of years, many of the major banks in the UK have started this process much sooner than the EU. However, with the new open banking European Directive, PSD2 (Revised Payment Service Directive), coming on March 14th, the pressure will be on beyond Britain. The UK will likely be much further ahead in the adoption process, and the EU might use the UK’s open banking framework as an example for the rest of the EU.
With over 9,000 financial institutions in Europe, PSD2 will undoubtedly create an overhaul in the market. As described in Evry, the new open banking European Directive, PSD2, “enables bank customers, both consumers, and businesses, to use third-party providers to manage their finances.”
The challenges of Open Banking
However, when it comes to taking the first steps to implement open banking, there is a hugely complicated process to undertake. Organizations require FCA approval, which is a long-winded process that can take 6-12 months. Unsurprisingly, this is a lot of work and is very costly for small companies. These organizations must work with lawyers and a range of consultancies to get approval and are unable to get started with the open banking process until their organization has received the green light.
With the new PSD2 directive, EU banks and financial institutions must open their internal data and functionality to EU companies and anyone on the market who is authorized to use this service.
Like GDPR, those who do not comply with the new regulation will face considerable fines. And, when it comes to security, a single breach will have catastrophic effects. Those who implement open banking should have military-grade security, as the banking and financial industry has the most sensitive customer data. One data breach could ultimately lead to the extinction of a business.
So, if the process is challenging, why do organizations implement open banking?
The Open Banking opportunity
Open banking opens the market to smaller players in the financial services and banking industry. By introducing competition into the market, customers will have increased choices and will no longer need to accept using the big players just because they are recognized names.
Accessibility and ease of use also improve with open banking. In the modern world, successful products and services are driven by customers and not dictated by companies as it was in the past.
Open banking brings open competition into the financial services market, and by doing it, it enables new, small, and agile players to deliver a customer-first approach.
If the traditional banks and financial service providers don’t evolve and modernize to address the new game rules on the market, then, as outlined in Verdict, those who “adopt a compliance-only approach risk losing customers and being downgraded to the status of commodities”
Accelerating the journey
So, will organizations around Europe be ready by the 14th March deadline? Many have questioned the preparedness of financial institutions, asking whether“many will achieve this deadline with so few companies currently in the market offering solutions.”
Alongside the difficulty of implementing open banking, for small businesses, sourcing the right talent to build a secure open banking infrastructure can be difficult. This is only intensified by the current skills shortage in the IT and technology industry in the UK. And, when new and innovative technology like open banking is introduced, there are even fewer people who are well-equipped or experienced to create and manage the implementation process.
Open banking “creates the opportunity to develop an entirely new market for financial products”, and this new market needs experts to build it. With speed at that the open banking market is growing, it’s important for organizations to have teams with the right expertise and knowledge, or they risk a failed project and regulatory non-compliance.
What’s next?
As open banking extends into Europe, it’s likely that we’ll see major players in the open banking market start to emerge. Some European companies will take the UK model as inspiration or as their official framework, whereas others will create local initiatives and models. Brexit will also play a big part in the next few years, with changes to the UK’s financial industry and regulations impacting the progression of open banking, adding to the complexities of implementation.
With open banking empowering small businesses to challenge larger players in the market, and new EU regulations opening up the technology into new regions, it’s an exciting initiative that will drive huge changes in the way consumers and banks interact.
Open banking might be a daunting process, but the benefits to both financial institutions and consumers outweigh the challenges. With the right talent and technology in place, the months it takes to implement open banking can be considerably reduced, and organizations will have peace of mind that they are complying with the imminent PSD2 directive.