BFC Bulletins Monthly News Digest
Tags BigTech Events Open Banking
At EBAday 2019, a group of panelists discussed the likely future of instant payments in a world of open banking. The group noted that major progress is already being made in some areas of the world and that Europe stands to lose out in its own backyard to China and the U.S. if it doesn’t start making waves and fostering an atmosphere of collaboration. For most involved in the financial sector, the main question seems to center around how open banking standards will eventually settle as APIs are still very fragmented, although there is a light at the end of the tunnel with regulations starting to introduce a common set of standards.
The other big question is who is more likely to push innovations and become the leaders of tomorrow: will it be traditional financial institutions or will it be BigTechs? While there has been much made of how BigTechs are continuing to push into the financial sector with their large consumer bases and drive for providing consumers with fast and easy solutions, it should be noted that traditional financial institutions are demonstrating a willingness to embrace PSD2 legislation. In fact, many are active in delivering beyond PSD2 and beyond a limited API scope. It should be remembered that we are still in the infancy of this and that there is much growing and learning to do. What is certain is that the world is moving, thanks to increased consumer expectations and open banking, toward a different standard of normal. And it should be interesting to see how it all shakes out.
