Interview

Konsentus Verify: flexible access for financial institutions in Open Finance

Wednesday 18 September 2024 14:28 CET | Editor: Vlad Macovei | Interview

We sat down with Mike Woods, CEO of Konsentus, to discuss the new multiple access methods to the Verify directory data, which provides tailored solutions that help financial institutions in Europe navigate Open Finance.

 

Mike Woods from Konsentus discusses the new Konesntus Verify access methods, which provide solutions to help banks in Europe navigate Open Finance.

 

Konsentus recently announced new ways to access the Konsentus Verify directory. Can you explain the rationale behind offering multiple access methods (online portal, real-time API, downloadable cache) for the Konsentus Verify directory, and how this flexibility benefits financial institutions?

Our customers have been using our trusted data for over five years now. However, we have seen that not everyone has the same requirements and this new approach provides more ways for them to easily use our data in their environment. 

For instance, some large global financial institutions typically prefer to operate a fully in-house solution so it suits them to be able to download our directory data into their environment as a local cache to perform checks on third parties without external dependencies. This method involves them building their own infrastructure, but it gives them control over how and when they do their checks. They can store the data and perform regular downloads at a time that best suits them – the choice is theirs.

Others may not want to have the cost of building their own database so it makes more sense to take our data as a real-time API. This removes the burden of having to have in-house resources to maintain and upkeep their local environments. This also provides peace of mind that every transaction is being checked against the latest available source data. 

However, we’re also seeing demand for ad-hoc searches and manual lookups from organisations that still have manual onboarding processes or might only be servicing a few TPPs. Our online portal might be the best option for these organisations. The portal also enables certificate issuers to check what roles third parties are authorised to perform before issuing their PSD2 certificates. 

The same data powers all three access methods so whatever format suits a financial institution, they always benefit from our same trusted data. 

 

With the upcoming Financial Data Access (FIDA) framework and PSD3 on the horizon, how is Konsentus preparing to handle the expected increase in third-party providers that will require identity and regulatory checks?

Konsentus Verify has been architected to seamlessly extend into Open Finance and beyond. We will take on additional data sets as required by the market as the regulation evolves. 

Where we excel is that our data is brought together into a single standardised format which makes it easy to consume. This will be a particular benefit to users of the portal who won’t have to interpret or interrogate the data. All this has been done for them.  It’s easily searchable, all in the same language, format, and easy to understand. 

We will extend our data collection capabilities to collect the new data sets under FIDA and this will be in the same easy-to-use format that our customers are used to today. 

As we head towards Open Finance, we expect a huge increase in both the number and types of third-party providers and our platform is designed to avoid any impact on how we run and manage our service today. Our systems are extensible, robust, and built for scale so we’ll be able to extend our service offering as the market itself grows. 

 

 

What role does Konsentus Verify play in ensuring a smooth transition for financial institutions as Europe moves towards Open Finance and a more integrated financial ecosystem?

Ensuring we provide our customers with a smooth move into Open Finance and beyond is extremely important for us. Whatever delivery service our customers opt for, we want to be able to provide a continual data feed with no interruption or downtime. That means extending our existing Konsentus Verify service to support the additional data sets required for Open Finance at the time required by the legislation ensuring our customers can enjoy using our trusted data in the same way as they have always historically done.

We will ensure that any new data sets we provide are standardised and presented in the same easy-to-read format as we do today. And of course, all data will be provided in the same language which again makes searching across multiple data sets far easier.

 

How does Konsentus ensure that the data in its Verify directory remains accurate and up to date, especially with the dynamic nature of third-party providers and regulatory changes across different markets?

Maintaining the high quality of our data has always been our number one priority. We monitor all the relevant systems of record continually to ensure that the data held by Konsentus is reflective of the source data (i.e. the 31 National Competent Authorities of the EEA and the UK). So, for instance, if a TPP has its licence revoked, changes the services it provides, or adds or removes a country it passports to, the new information is immediately reflected in our systems. While the TPP landscape is dynamic and changing, so is our data. Data quality will continue to be our differentiator as the market evolves and the landscape changes.  

About Mike Woods

Mike’s leadership career spans retail, banking, and technology. He was an Executive Director at NatWest Bank and RBS, heading up a group of 1,000 colleagues. Previously, he was Founder and CEO at Aconite, a global payments technology software company.

 

 

About Konsentus

Konsentus provides specialist advisory services and technology solutions to support the national implementation of open ecosystems. With a proven track record in navigating complex, multi-stakeholder ecosystems and understanding individual regulatory and market requirements, Konsentus’ award-winning technology powers national Open Finance infrastructures, enabling ecosystem participants to safely interact with each other.


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Keywords: Open Banking, Open Finance, financial data, data, product upgrade, banks
Categories: Banking & Fintech
Companies: Konsentus
Countries: Europe
This article is part of category

Banking & Fintech

Konsentus

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