CA Technologies is partnering with Swisscom, a Swiss telecoms company, to develop an Open Banking Hub. Swisscom will use the CA Technologies API Management portfolio to create an interface that connects financial institutions with third parties, particularly fintech startups. The interface is intended to facilitate collaboration and secure data sharing between banks and fintechs, after the European Payment Services Directive (PSD2) issued in April this year, reduced fintechs’ dependency on banks. The directive reduces banks’ monopoly on payments and allows third parties to apply for authorisation as a payment institution if they meet certain capital and risk management requirements. “Traditional banks and new, nimble Fintechs are no longer working against each other, but rather in tandem to create exciting and compelling new financial solutions,” said André Durrer, Head of Digital Business Platforms at Swisscom. “The Swisscom Open Banking Hub provides banks, fintechs and other third-party providers with a secure and agile platform upon which they can grow business. CA Technologies is the lynchpin of this modern and dynamic Hub, enabling secure API-based connection between providers and users of services. Their proven, flexible solution opens the door to digital data communication in existing and future financial ecosystems.” The Hub operates on two levels: an “API Playground as a Service” allows financial services providers with a simple to test new third-party applications that are already connected to the Open Banking Hub. Secondly, it enables the use of the third-party solutions within Swisscom’s secure IT infrastructure—upon which it already operates the core banking systems of approximately 80 financial services providers. The Hub is also intended to help fintechs ssatisfy the compliance and security requirements of the PSD2 and similar legislation.
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