​In this way, Danske Bank is taking an important  step to becoming the preferred banking interface. The new payments are expected​ to launch in  August 2020 starting in Denmark.   

With more than 3 million personal banking customers across the Nordics, Danske Bank has  experienced a rising customer trend as more have started banking with several banks over the past  couple of years. As an addition to giving customers a full financial overview with account aggregation  back in 2018 as the first Nordic bank to do so across Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway, Danske  Bank is now taking their open banking strategy to the next level by implementing open banking  payments, making it possible for their customers to transfer money frictionlessly between​ ​all their  accounts in one place regardless of what bank they hold.    

Commenting the new payment initiation feature, ​Line Munkholm​, Group Head of Digital Banking at  Danske Bank, says:    

“In a fast-moving world that is headed towards more openness and transparency, our strategy is to  support our customers with the best possible tools to handle their everyday finances. We’ve been  working closely with Nordic API Gateway since 2017 and we’re happy to continue developing the  partnership, giving our customers a huge flexibility as they’re now able to make payments and  transfers between their own accounts across several different banks. For us, it’s all about making it  easier for customers to gain a full financial overview - no matter how many banks they have.”    

It is further expected that the payment initiation service will solve 90% of the current money transfer  use cases that Danske Bank’s retail customers have today when transferring money.   

Commenting on the news and the strengths of owning the interface for banks, Head of Partnerships of  Nordic API Gateway, ​Jonas Vogt Rasmussen​, says:    

“It’s a bold and innovative move from Danske Bank integrating both account aggregation and  payment initiation in their mobile banking app and it's a clear testimony that shows how banks have  moved the focus from compliance to opportunity when it comes to PSD2. Danske Bank is a truly  forward-thinking financial institution that has leveraged open banking since day one to support new  customer demands and stay ahead of the competition in the financial sector. With the launch of  payment initiation, Danske Bank is even closer to becoming the preferred banking interface allowing  their customers to manage their finances across banks in one place.”    

Nordic API Gateway is experiencing a great interest from banks across Europe that want to leverage on  the same opportunities. So far, only a few banks have combined account aggregation and payment  initiation. Therefore, Danske Bank is the second bank in the Nordics to launch with these capabilities  after Norwegian, DNB, which is also enabled by Nordic API Gateway.