Open Banking Nigeria on-boards TrueLayer to drive API driven finance in Africa

TrueLayer, the leading provider of financial APIs, has joined Open Banking Nigeria, the industry-formed advocacy group driving the adoption of open banking in Nigeria, to develop the open Application Programming Interfaces (API) standards for the Nigerian financial industry.

This partnership, which would be with active participation of other industry members, is in recognition of the significant position that Africa, Nigeria in particular, occupies as open APIs transform banking and bring significant innovation to everyday financial services.

TrueLayer would bring to bear its extensive open banking experience in the United Kingdom, Europe, and Australia to facilitate the development of API standards for the Nigerian market, in line with global best practices. Its alliance with Open Banking Nigeria would further pave the way for the expansion of financial services to millions of the poor and vulnerable who are mostly left out of the financial world.

With the introduction of a unified API for open banking across financial institutions, customers would be able to bank, save and borrow in intuitive and cost-effective ways that the world has grown accustomed to, but which the financial services industry has mostly not imbibed.

“Countries across Africa have, over the past decade, repeatedly shown us how quickly their people and businesses embrace new technology. This is especially true of Nigeria which is fast becoming a tech powerhouse. We believe that Open Banking presents an incredible opportunity to revolutionise financial services on the continent. Not only will it spur competition and increase choice, it will also be a great boon to the fintech industry. We’re delighted to provide all the advice and support we can to help make Open Banking a reality in Nigeria.” said Francesco Simoneschi, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of TrueLayer.

Open Banking Nigeria is driving innovation and choice for customers, businesses, fintech companies, and banks with the next generation API standards in partnership with a growing body of providers and partners helping to transform banking in Nigeria.

Ope Adeoye, a Trustee of Open Banking Nigeria, is not surprised that global players are looking into frontier markets for open banking development as in the years to come. “APIs would be the lever for financial inclusion, retail credit, and innovation. Companies and nations that miss helping to shape that journey stand a great risk of losing out completely.”

TrueLayer provides secure, global access to financial infrastructure. Developers use its APIs to build best-in-class products that securely access data and initiate payments in real-time. Founded in 2016, TrueLayer is connected to major banks across the world, backed by leading venture capital including Tencent and Temasek, and trusted by some of the biggest names in fintech including Monzo, Revolut, and Zopa.