’The new Act on Payment Services which transposes the Revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2) into Icelandic law, entered into force in November 2021 and will take full effect in May 2022. After full implementation, banks and third party providers (TPPs) will be authorised to access customer bank accounts to initiate payments and provide banking data-related services given the customer’s permission.

Banfico’s OB Directory Plus provides a single and compliant source of standardised information about active Regulated Entities that can perform access to account (XS2A) services in Europe and the UK. It connects to all National Competent Authority (NCA) registers and the European Banking Authority (EBA). The OB Directory Plus is a cost-effective, cloud-based solution, highly available, with updates sourced from the registers multiple times a day. With the OB Directory Plus, banks have all regulatory information to make informed decisions, ensure robust fraud prevention and complement their risk mitigation strategy.

Kristjan Theodor Sigurdsson, Technical Product Manager for Open Banking at Arion Bank, said: “The security of our customers’ accounts is of paramount importance, and we want to make sure that when we go live with PSD2, our customers can feel safe using third party products that access their accounts. Partnering with Banfico will allow us to add an additional layer of security to our services by making sure that the third party providers connecting to us have the license to perform the services they are requesting, at the time of requesting them. By implementing Banfico’s solution, we are going a step further in order to ensure the integrity of our customers’ accounts while at the same time not requiring additional work for the third parties connecting to us, benefiting everyone involved.”

Kannan Rasappan, CEO, Banfico, commented: “As the number and volume of Open Banking transactions start taking off and more data is accessible to third parties, banks should be prepared to take action before their reputation is at risk. We're happy to be part of Arion Bank's PSD2 implementation journey as their trusted Open Banking service provider, and we hope to see the great outcome of Arion Bank’s Open Banking strategy.”