EBA releases report on Open Banking for SMEs

‘Open Banking for SMEs – Enhancing financial services for the backbone of Europe’s economy’ provides an overview of the specific challenges facing the SME sector and how this diverse customer segment can be better served through tailored financial services and value-added offerings based on Open Banking.

This report is aimed at shedding light on the banking needs of SMEs, how the evolution of a provider ecosystem is diversifying and complementing offerings for SMEs and how Open Banking initiatives can increase the quality of services provided in the SME domain. The report builds on previous work of EBA’s Open Banking Working Group to put a spotlight on the developments, the potential, and the implications of Open Banking and Open Finance for banks and other financial service providers.

To succeed in the SME segment, Open Banking needs to be embedded in a broader transformation. The prerequisite is to establish a customer-centric mindset and implement a clear SME strategy before choosing an Open Banking approach and make any related ‘build or buy’ decisions. Besides, the provider’s operating model needs to accommodate a customer-driven approach leveraging Open Banking with elements including a digital-ready culture, an API-enabled technology stack and the capabilities for leveraging internal and external data.