With the new platform, Aiia, Nordic API Gateway believes that any industry will be able to benefit from the PSD2-enabled access to account-to-account payments alongside access to financial data. The company also expects that new open banking use cases within retail, accounting system providers, eCommerce and more will emerge with the launch of Aiia. So far, not many companies have been licensed as third party providers by the local FSAs in the Nordics since the launch in 2018, which shows that financial innovation is being held back, explains Rune Mai, CEO and Founder of Nordic API Gateway:

“Open banking hasn’t been as open as we’ve hoped for; we haven’t seen many TPP registrations going live across the Nordics. With that being said, we see that the interest in using financial data and instant account-to-account payments is increasing across industries and the open banking movement is starting to mature. Our recent survey amongst SMEs and financial institutions shows that more than 91% of the surveyed were aware of PSD2”

In order to access financial data or initiate open banking payments on behalf of European consumers, all businesses need to do is acquire an AISP or PISP license from the local Financial Supervisory Authorities. But according to Rune Mai, such a license can be costly, time-consuming and difficult to obtain for the many startups and businesses that don’t necessarily fit the profile of an AISP or PISP, based on the various descriptions set forth by the FSAs across Europe. This is where the Aiia platform comes in, allowing businesses to test and get started with the power of a digital bank in their app(s) from day one.

With AIia, Rune Mai and the Nordic API Gateway team want to offer a fast track to open banking and bring PSD2 into its full effect for all by delivering what he calls “open banking with the batteries included.”

“With Aiia, we’re doing an open banking with batteries included model. There’s nothing sadder than spending hours unpacking a product that’s tied to the packaging only to realise that it needs 10 batteries that aren’t included. That’s exactly what open banking is today to many businesses that want to get going with the PSD2-enabled opportunities for their customers straightaway. With Aiia, you get to interact with the product right out of the box and basically skip the hassle of lengthy and ongoing registration processes and expenses,” he explains.

A need for financial data transparency

With an increase in usage of open banking-enabled services by consumers and businesses in Europe, there will be a need for transparency regarding how the data is being used by companies accessing their customers’ financial data.

To secure that, the Aiia platform is also set to empower consumers by providing an overview of which services they’re sharing their financial data with, how it’s being used and the ability to revoke access directly from third parties.

“We see this as an initiative that benefits businesses, consumers and society in general. It truly puts the ‘open’ into ‘open banking’ by creating transparency of financial data use for the end user,” Rune Mai concludes.

The platform is currently being rolled-out across Europe, offering account information and payment initiation services to meet new open banking use cases. Aiia is already being leveraged by various companies across multiple industries in the Nordics, and will be fully rolled out across Europe by 2021.