Leda Writes for Fintech Futures: Open Banking in a brave new world

Every Thursday, Leda Glyptis, 11:FS Chief of Staff creates #LedaWrites. This week she turns her attention to Open Banking, doing almost nothing and doing everything.

I don’t know how to answer when people ask me how it’s going with open banking, because not much is happening but everything is happening. It’s not a surprise.

When I chaired a panel years ago an architect from a big UK bank was asked about Open Banking, he said: “We don’t expect a stampede”. And he was right, there definitely hasn’t been a stampede, from anywhere.

The banks have rushed to comply but despite millions spent with consultancies and project teams working their way through tons of post-it notes, no real strategy for monetising Open Banking and the opportunities it affords has materialised.

Aggregator apps are available to customers, adoption numbers are okay but suggest a relatively ‘meh’ response to questions around Open Banking being worth it, working or a useful idea.

Startups aren’t riding to the rescue either. They haven’t found the silver bullet that makes Open Banking a must-have. Some struggle, some flourish and impact is being made one step at a time instead of all at once.

But Open Banking is still a big deal. It marks the end of an era and the start of a brave new world. Fortress mentalities have been consigned to the dustbin and now the consumer comes first whether we like it or not. The revolution is here, it’s just slow.

It doesn’t matter that there hasn’t been a stampede. There’s a lot to take on and the initial process has been tainted by the old way of doing things. Regulations came down, we asked what’s the minimum compliance requirement and delivered checklists and project plans.

It’s a route that tries to change as little as possible, turns out that’s not an option anymore.

Creation isn’t linear. And the greatest things about Open Banking won’t come in order to make Open Banking profitable for my employer. Not even in order to make the most of open banking from the opportunistic standpoint of a hungry entrepreneur.

It’ll come from what the customer needs.

Read the full story over at Fintech Futures.