Well, that was fun! Hats off to Money20/20 for hosting a fantastic, Covid-secure and in-person event that we know took a lot of talent and co-ordination to pull together.
There was a real buzz around Amsterdam as over 4,000 attendees and 1,500 companies from more than 76 countries descended on the city to enjoy their first international conference since the pandemic.
There were over 7,000 1-2-1 meetings as people made up for lost time. “We’re delighted to be back,” said Tracey Davies, Money20/20’s President. “We love digital, but you cannot beat real life. The support we had was amazing. There was a lot of love in the room.”
At the centre of the action
Money20/20 is close to my heart. The role of Open Banking Excellence (OBE) is to bring together banks, fintechs, regulators, and other industry stakeholders to learn, share stories, debate, and - above all - collaborate. So, there’s a lot of parallels between the two organisations.
It’s an exciting time in the Open Banking and Open Finance space. It’s maturing fast, with new use cases being realised.
The pandemic has fuelled digitisation and the emergence of a rich API economy is making customer journeys better and faster, with higher conversion rates and cost efficiencies for both banks and fintechs.
It’s clear fintechs and banks are beginning to work together more openly and eagerly, resulting in better financial services. Banks took part in a record 142 fintech deals across Europe last year.
“Data from Open Banking can also be a powerful tool for financial inclusion. For instance, by bridging gaps in data available today, open banking data can help banks more fully assess a small business’ track record and expand access to capital for more entrepreneurs,” explained Hakan Eroglu, Global Open Banking Lead, Advisors, Mastercard.
Transforming the world of payments
Open Banking payments is a huge growth area and was a hot topic at Money20/20. For example, with around four million consumers and businesses now using Open Banking-enabled products, in July 2021 the UK topped two million successful Open Banking payment initiations per month. A remarkable increase of 664% in just one year.
“Open Banking is a transformative technology; it enables companies to re-imagine the ways people pay and interact with their financial lives,” said Francesco Simoneschi, Co-Founder and CEO, TrueLayer. “The value is clear and we’re now perfecting this form of payment.”
“Open Banking also provides opportunities for legacy incumbents,” said Todd Clyde, CEO, Token. “Banks now have the chance to be behind that payment button and provide the services we love behind credit cards. So Open Banking is really an opportunity for the banks to re-intermediate with consumers and generate more revenue out of payments.”
“For years, the payment rails have been antiquated,” explained Arun Tharmarajah, Head of Europe, Wise. “We’ve been relying on cards when it comes to making payments, but it doesn’t need to be that way. We can use the existing traditional bank rails in a much more innovative way by using Open Banking. Products become cheaper, and merchants and companies benefit because we don’t have to pay intermediaries to move money.”
“Let’s say you want to sign up to Netflix or Spotify today,” added Andy Wiggan, Vice President - Product Management, GoCardless. “Using direct debit takes three or four days to set up the mandate, so you’re not likely to get any product until they confirm this payment. So we use Open Banking to take that first payment immediately.”
Overcoming regulatory hurdles, together
It’s fair to say the UK created the blueprint for Open Banking in Europe, but delegates were also keen to discuss what’s happening in other markets around the world.
Each market faces its own unique challenges, a topic we recently covered in an OBE Campfire. In Malaysia, for example, Open Banking adoption is held back by banking facilities that aren’t easily accessible digitally. In Canada, as the so-called ‘Bill C-11’ did not become law, work still needs to be done on a new privacy law bill.
Considered collaboration between industry stakeholders is crucial to overcoming these challenges. As is learning from your peers – something we witnessed first-hand when OBE launched in Brazil earlier this year. The local banks and regulators there are looking at the UK and taking lessons, which has helped to increase the pace of market adoption.
Having witnessed the enthusiasm in Amsterdam, I’ve no doubt the industry will continue working together to overcome the remaining hurdles and grasp new opportunities.
As Scarlett Sieber, Chief Strategy and Growth Officer, Money20/20, summed up – and teased: “Open Banking is a natural part of the conversation now, so we will keep focusing on this at Money20/20 next year, but it will manifest in different ways, and not in the way you may imagine! Embedded finance, for example, is everywhere, with more and more industries outside of traditional financial services getting involved.”
Industry experts and representatives from TrueLayer, Salt Edge, Open Banking Excellence, Aiia, Tink, Fintecture have also shared key industry trends via The Paypers` Money 20/20 Europe video compilation, covering all the latest trends concerning Open Banking and the opportunities it presents in 2021 and beyond.
About Helen Child
Helen is the Founder of Open Banking Excellence (OBE), the world’s leading community of Open Banking and Open Finance pioneers from across the breadth of financial services, including banks, fintechs, BigTech and other industry bodies. Prior to founding OBE, Helen was the founder and former CEO of the UK’s first e-Money Licence Issuer to be awarded licences by both Mastercard and Visa. She sees that same pioneering spirit in the world of Open Banking today.
About Open Banking Excellence (OBE)
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