Open Banking Expo reveals future for Open Banking

Speakers at this year’s Open Banking Expo have revealed their predictions for the future of Open Banking at the sold-out event in London yesterday.

In his opening address, keynote speaker Jim Marous made the case that Open Banking providers will need to extend their offerings beyond traditional banking services and focus on making the consumer’s life easier if they are going to succeed.

This year’s Expo welcomed more than 500 delegates to listen to 78 speakers from across the financial services sector including banks, payments companies and fintechs. As the first country to implement Open Banking, the event focused on the innovations that will drive the Open Banking revolution.

At the Open Banking 2.0 panel, sponsored by BJSS, representatives from HSBC, TSB, Lloyds Banking Group, Standard Chartered and Dankse Bank stated that Open Banking has yet to be a commercial success for the majority of fintechs and banks. However, the panelists believed that Open Banking would generate commercially successful products and services in the years to come once consumers had time to understand the benefits of data sharing.

Other innovation discussed at the Expo includes the advances in payment technology through Open Banking will which improve the prospects for SME businesses. Banking and fintech panellists told attendees that the technology reduces costs for small businesses and increase their chances of surviving in the early stages of development.

In addition to the commercial benefits of Open Banking, attendees of the Expo learned about the collaboration between Nationwide Building Society, fintechs and charities as part of Open Banking for Good. This project is focused on using Open Banking to help financially squeezed people improve their financial wellbeing and their ability to manage debt. As part of a partnership with the project, the Open Banking Expo is also donating a percentage of ticket sales to The Money Charity.

Another panel which included representatives from Revolut, Mastercard, Crealogix and the Financial Data and Technology Association discussed how the wider financial services sector could embrace Open Banking innovation to develop new lending, investment and financial planning services for consumers. The panel concluded that OpenFinance could have significant benefits, including improved access to loans and more effective wealth management.

Open Banking Expo’s Managing Director Adam Cox, comments: “The 2019 Expo provided attendees with real insight into the disruption and innovation that Open Banking is about to bring to financial services. It’s encouraging that panelists could also discuss how to overcome the challenges the industry is facing in enabling Open Banking to deliver real value for consumers and businesses, with the end goal of mass adoption and extending beyond Open Banking to Open Finance in sight.”