Open Banking Spurs FI/FinTech Linkups Through Incubators

Open banking has brought more firms to the (innovation) sandbox.

In one example, this past week, a FinTech focused on open banking, ndgit, said in a press release it is debuting PSD2 compliance APIs in Switzerland. The firm is working with F10, a Swiss FinTech incubator and accelerator.

The pact means that beginning this month, ndgit will provide a “bank interface sandbox” that will enable F10 startups to test their offerings tied to the Berlin Group Standard-based API.

The new APIs enable F10’s FinTech roster to achieve PSD2 compatibility and focus, in part, on developing new products for the Swiss financial markets.

“As well as acting as a catalyst for new services and entire business models, the initiative will make it easier for banks to manage new and third-party service introduction, using simulations that don’t involve additional company resources or risk to block existing operations,” according to the release.

The functions span account information queries, balance inquiries and payment initiation across SEPA standard transfers, in addition to foreign transfers. F10 has said that it will supplement the new FinTech sandbox with additional APIs and test data to help develop new products. The corporate members include SIX, Julius Baer, Baloise Group, Generali, PwC, R3, Tamedia, Capgemini, Raiffeisen, Zürcher Kantonalbank, PostFinance, Eri Bancaire and Eny Finance.

B2B in Focus, Too

Separately, and with a B2B focus, Software AG said it has unveiled webMethods.io B2B, which is a new addition to the company’s B2B integration portfolio.

The new offering helps enable B2B stakeholders to onboard partners and exchange documentation across EDI or API standards. The webMethods.io B2B tool offers 14,000 “out of the box” EDI document types through a suite. The company has said that more than 1,700 global businesses use its on-premises B2B platform.

Banking/FinTech Partnership

In further evidence of the linkups between banks and FinTechs, in a partnership announced earlier this month, DPR, which offers core banking technology, has partnered with ClearBank, billed as the first new clearing bank in more than 250 years.

The firms said in an announcement that the partnership comes in the wake of DPR’s newly launched platform that is focused on retail and business savings strategies. The partnership will leverage ClearBank’s real-time and single channel APIs to serve DPR’s clients.

That client roster includes banks and other firms — and cross-pollination efforts will bring DPR’s banking offerings to ClearBank’s customers. ClearBank, the company said, provides its clients with access to the U.K.’s clearing system via an ISO 20022 compatible RESTful API.

Dave Patel, co-founder and CEO of DPR, said in the statement: “We’ve been working on a number of open banking and API initiatives to support our clients. We’ve found a long-term partner in ClearBank to bring real-time banking and payment services to our existing client base. Having completed our initial integration for one client, we’re really pleased to be able to extend this integration to all customers of our enhanced banking platform.”

Separately, Minsait, a business management consultancy based in Madrid, said it acquired 100 percent of FinTech Afterbanks, which also based in Spain.

In an announcement, the companies said Afterbanks’ technology allows data from different Spanish banks to be retrieved and aggregated. The acquisition will let Minsait develop new payment alternatives, offer financing, and help boost open banking initiatives. Afterbanks has offices in Spain and the U.K., and its connections span banks across more than 20 countries, including the U.S., Chile, Canada, Mexico and elsewhere.