Progressa Report: ‘OPEN BANKING: Benefiting The Underserved’

Review Progressa’s recently published Open Banking brief:

Open Banking Benefits

• Not being driven by a closed ecosystem/closed banking monopoly which restricts the consumer to access resources they need.
• In the open banking era, you’re linked into alternative sources of value.
• Consumers can get the help they need in a streamlined manner when going through challenging financial times.
• Banks’ can migrate the risk over to fintech companies and can get their customers back once they’re back on their feet (e.g. Progressa).
• Even if it’s not a challenging time, fintechs can provide more diverse financial services and advice to better serve the consumer.

Open Banking Risks & Mitigation

• To ensure the protection of customer data, stringent compliance standards would need be implemented along with regular compliance verification (e.g. PCI Compliance & Canadian Lending Association).
• Any security breach or misuse of data could significantly harm the banks’ brand reputation and confidence they currently hold, which would instantly jeopardize the program.
• The Government would need to play a leadership role to mandate and enforce standards in order to create a unified vision.