Token.io, the London and San Francisco-based open banking platform company, announced news on Wednesday (February 13) that Mastercard has chosen it to provide the connectivity layer for the payment company’s open banking hub.
In a press release, Token said the hub connects merchants and retailers to financial firms in Europe so that they can access data and conduct payment transactions. Some of the services the hub will offer include a pan-European directory to aid financial institutions in ensuring third-party providers seeking access to a customer’s account are real and have the proper regulatory status, a dedicated dispute resolution mechanisms and the connectivity hub.
“Fragmentation and a lack of consistency in third-party access are creating complexity in open banking, so we welcome the chance to work with Mastercard and leverage Token’s open API platform to address these issues at scale and together accelerate the global adoption of open banking,” said Steve Kirsch, founder and CEO of Token, in the press release. Token was chosen to launch the connectivity hub that will provide secure connectivity between the third parties and financial institutions’ APIs using Token’s operating system, dubbed TokenOSTM. The company said in the press release that in addition to its operating system it offers open APIs and money technology that can be programmed.
“Open banking has the potential to revolutionize how we all interact with financial services,” said Jim Wadsworth, senior vice president who is leading Mastercard’s open banking efforts. “Our API-led solutions will make it easier for financial institutions and third parties to act on the opportunities and create innovative banking and payments experiences for people’s everyday lives. Token’s work in this space will help us to deliver the vision we’ve set.”
While open banking has been gaining traction with consumers in Europe, the next focus is on corporations, which appear to be warming up to the idea. According to a recent report from Centtrip, the treasury technology company, businesses in the U.K. will benefit from the API ecosystem that is emerging thanks to open banking.
We’re always on the lookout for opportunities to partner with innovators and disruptors.
Learn More