5 open banking announcements that recently transpired in Asia and Australasia

By Edil Corneille

The implementation of the PSD2 regulation in Europe and the Open Banking regulation in the United Kingdom (UK) have created opportunities for FinTechs to provide better financial services to consumers. Regulators in these regions are ensuring that banks build the necessary Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) which will enable the sharing of the vast repository of customer data with relevant third party providers (TPPs). This benefits the customer in the form of personalised financial services. Open banking in Asian countries has followed the course of a market-driven approach that is generally not government regulated. Traditional financial institutions have realised that the sharing of customer data with other financial service providers is inevitable if they want to be relevant in the long run. Customers are demanding more when it comes to financing and the legacy systems of banks are unable to keep up with the rising demands. Below are the 5 developments in open banking in terms of partnerships and announcements that transpired recently in Asia and Australasia.

Basiq partners with Rounded

Australian company Basiq has announced its partnership with Melbourne-based Rounded, a simple accounting software that aims to make work better for the self-employed. With the collaboration, Rounded customers are able to connect their bank accounts to save time in logging expenses. This ensures that any money going in and out of their account is accurately reflected in the accounting software. Access to banking data will allow Rounded to add features such as automatic reconciliation in the near future which will save users even more time and effort.

HSBC and HKSTP 

The two parties have entered into a partnership called the API EcoBooster programme. It will help start-ups and technology ventures build Open Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and develop services for the banking industry. Registration for the programme is open to developers across the globe until August 14, 2020. Organised by Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP), the programme will connect start-ups and the developer community with HSBC as the lead partner to co-create API solutions in the areas of loan services, transactions and operation, credit card, digital payments and customer records management for the commercial and retail banking industries.

Khaleeji Commercial Bank 

Khaleeji Commercial Bank (KHCB), an Islamic bank in the Kingdom of Bahrain, announced that it is set to provide its open banking service to clients through the ‘Khaleeji 360’ platform. The platform enables clients to link their accounts with different banks and review aggregated information about their financial operations through KHCB’s Mobile App. The bank has adopted the systems developed by Tarabut Gateway, a FinTech company and open banking infrastructure solutions provider.

Salt Edge and Planner Bee

Pocket financial planning app Planner Bee, a company with headquarters in Singapore, announced a partnership with Toronto-based Salt Edge, to securely and seamlessly connect millions of users to their personal banking data. Planner Bee relies on Salt Edge’s open banking platform and security standards, which are said to be compliant with the top banks’ requirements in over 70 countries. This has allowed the app to easily offer the widest support for users’ banks across ASEAN, to bring automation to everyone from day one.

Frollo and NextGen.Net

North Sydney-based NextGen.Net, a lending technology company, announced its acquisition of Frollo, a purpose-driven Australian FinTech and, provider of financial management and Consumer Data Right (Open Banking) solutions. The strategic acquisition transpired to help both companies lead the way in Australia’s new Open Banking environment. The addition of Frollo’s complementary technology and teams will strengthen existing NextGen.Net solutions and improve lending experiences using CDR and Open Banking. Frollo will leverage the experience and resources of NextGen.Net while providing Open Banking technology for the NextGen.Net platform to reduce the cost of Responsible Lending and improve ‘Time To Yes’.

ALSO, READ: Open Banking creates better Financial Services; Are Banks and FinTechs ready?