Bank-FinTech Tie-Ups Eye Open Banking Adoption

Bank-FinTech tie-ups continue to emerge, with an eye on driving open banking adoption. As the U.K.’s Tide considers a new way to encourage banks to embrace the model, other collaborators seek ways to strengthen the small business banking experience.

Ebury Chosen To Boost SMB Services From La Banque Postale

With an eye on boosting its presence with its corporate and small business customers, France’s La Banque Postale has tapped Ebury to enhance its own offerings via open banking. In a recent press release, the companies said that the bank’s business customers will be able to open a foreign currency account via Ebury’s technology. The tie-up will connect firms to solutions like spot foreign exchange transactions and international transfers, with the bank pointing to France’s small and medium-sized business (SMB) landscape as particularly in need of such solutions. “This project illustrates our ambition to become a reference banking partner for businesses by 2025 through innovative digitized paths,” said Serge Bayard, the bank’s deputy chief executive officer, in a statement.

TAB Bank, MuleSoft Pair Up On Open Banking Solution

TAB Bank announced that it has deployed MuleSoft’s API platform to drive forward the financial institution’s open banking strategy. Together, the entities will look to enhance TAB’s lending capabilities to SMBs. TAB will integrate MuleSoft’s Anypoint platform to accelerate small business loan application processing.  In its announcement, TAB Bank explained that by looping into MuleSoft technology via API, it can then integrate core banking products that can be used to create other solutions. “With an open banking platform in place, TAB Bank can use the open APIs built on MuleSoft to make banking data available in real time, thus speeding up critical services for its customers,” the announcement stated.

Tide Calls For Open Banking Data Fees

As more banks and FinTechs embrace open banking’s opportunities to drive value for end customers, the ecosystem is also considering how to monetize open banking in new ways. The U.K.’s Tide Bank is now calling for the creation of open banking data fees in an effort to incentivize banks to embrace the model. The proposal was laid out in a letter to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), in which Tide suggests removing the current prohibition of charging to access data held by banks under current EU legislation. Citing a “slow uptake of open banking,” Tide CEO Oliver Prill said that large FIs may view open banking “as more of a threat than an opportunity.”

Tide Collaborates With RBL On Small Business Banking

As it considers the open banking revenue opportunity in the U.K., Tide India, a subsidiary of Tide U.K., is collaborating with RBL Bank to strengthen small business banking in the country. RBL Bank will provide the banking infrastructure for Tide’s India operations, according to the Economic Times of India, a tie-up that will allow Tide India to formally launch in the market. Tide plans to roll out offerings in India with a focus on current and savings accounts, while RBL will also be able to wield its API offerings to connect Tide users to payment and money transfer capabilities.