The recent APIDays London 2016 conference brought together the great and the good from the banking, finance and payment industries as well as programmers and technology specialists. Everyone had one common objective – to be part of a banking revolution.
As Chairman of a FinTech company, I often find myself talking to banks, depositors and investors about our own vision for the future with a childish excitement about what it holds. Here I was, in a room with 350 others who needed no convincing, in fact, had fascinating views and insights of their own. So here are the game changers….
Payment Service Directive v2 (PSD2)
Coming into effect in January 2018, PSD2 will allow greater payment and account information to flow into and out of our financial service providers (i.e. the bank that we all use for day to day banking).
Open Banking Working Group (OBWG)
Formed in 2015, the OBWG released a report in 2016 laying out the template for how this exchange of information should be structured and reviewed important aspects such as security and data protection.
Application Programming Interface (API)
APIs are a set of functions and procedures that allow the creation of applications which access the data of an operating system, application, or other service. The apps on our phones are everyday examples of APIs at work.
So, what does this mean for you?
Well, there will certainly be greater competition and transparency for the consumer as multiple providers become available on one platform. This is already happening in other sectors. For example, when you want to book a hotel, do you go direct to Hilton.com or Trivago where a number of options will be offered? Dominos.co.uk for pizza or Deliveroo.co.uk for anything your stomach desires?
So, in finance, if you are looking for a competitive rate on your savings, why use your current bank when you can use Insignisam.com and pick from hundreds?
Things will quickly feel more convenient, faster and connected as information starts to flow between your mortgage provider, credit card company and loan provider. With API technology, multiple providers with access to your financial activity could compete to give you real-time mortgage offers you can draw down with the press of a button on your phone. All just 10 minutes after the estate agent has let you in to view.
One final piece of advice, whatever you do, don’t lose your phone.