A new Nordic collaboration is on the rise as one of Denmark’s largest IT providers in the financial sector, Bankdata, has enabled open banking from Nordic API Gateway to its 9 member banks with more than 1.7 million customers.
With Bankdata’s vision, to be the leading digital partner for the banking sector in Denmark, they are now fulfilling the potential of open banking by adding full access to account aggregation and payment initiation to more than a fourth of the Danish population from Nordic API Gateway.
The partnership ties into the tectonic shift happening in the financial sector with open banking being on the agenda for a wide range of Nordic banks in 2021. Nordic API Gateway research from 2020 showed that 82% of financial institutions see PSD2 as an opportunity for their business and more than 53% already invested in new technology as a result of the EU directive.
In detail, the collaboration will grant all banks using Bankdata the opportunity to take full advantage of PSD2 to deliver actionable open banking solutions. This will speed up new open banking features for both businesses and consumers who will be able to add and pay with accounts from other banks, as well as getting a full overview of their finances regardless of the number of banks the customer might have.
A milestone for both companies
The collaboration also indicates a new dimension to Bankdata as it is becoming more of an integrator for its member banks. In the past, the IT provider would have developed most products in-house, but the rapid change in consumer demands, technology and compliance, sets new demands for the ability to integrate with external collaborators.
The collaboration is also an important step for Nordic API Gateway in acting as the preferred open banking partner for the vast majority of Nordic banks. The open banking firm is set to fully expand across Europe and push heavily into the vast addressable European payments market in 2021.
Commenting on the partnership, Claus Hjort Bjerre, Development Director at Bankdata, said: “We must be an active player in an open ecosystem if we want to be among the best to support our customers’ needs for IT development. With this specific collaboration we’re able to keep delivering on our promise to create, implement and run high-quality IT solutions for our member banks and use the best technology in the field to increase competition and growth with the consumer in mind.”
Rune Mai, CEO & Founder of Nordic API Gateway, also commented on the partnership saying: “We’re happy to collaborate with Bankdata and enable all its member banks to take full advantage of PSD2 to build even greater offerings giving businesses and consumers the instruments to make smarter financial decisions. The partnership fits well into our dual focus strategy of being the leading open banking provider for banks and financial institutions across Europe in 2021 and the preferred payment infrastructure for instant payments.”
And adds:
“By partnering with an additional 9 financial institutions, we’re now fully cementing our position as leaders and advisors in the Nordic ecosystem with the empowerment of more banks and financial institutions than any other aggregator in the Nordic countries.”
Today, Bankdata consists of the following banks: Jyske Bank, Alm Brand Bank, Djursland Bank, Kreditbanken, Nordfyns Bank, Ringkjøbing Landbobank, Skjern Bank, Sparekassen Sjælland-Fyn, and Sydbank.
With the partnership Nordic API Gateway is now empowering the vast majority of banks with high quality open banking infrastructure in the Nordics and expects to collaborate with more than 50 banks within 2021.