API: EY partners Open Banking Nigeria to reshape financial services
To develop and advocate a standard API, application programming interface, for Nigeria’s financial services industry, London-headquartered global accounting firm Ernst & Young (EY) has inked an agreement with Open Banking Nigeria, a Lagos-based, and facilitator.
The partnership is also expected to bring about transformation in terms of financial data management, EY said in a statement.
As a part of the agreement, EY is aiming at encouraging the adoption of a standard API practice among stakeholders, players, and regulators and enable further innovations in the industry.
A unified API will empower individual and corporate users to instruct their service providers to share their bank balance and transaction information with regulated account information service providers (AISPs), according to the firm.
The step is expected to result in the development of modern payment services, cost-saving for operators and increased innovation while also guaranteeing information security and privacy.
“… EY Nigeria is working with stakeholders to use open banking to reshape financial services, especially as regulators and governments seek to increase competition and choice,” Dapo Adewole, Partner, Technology Advisory, at EY stated.
He added, “We understand that customers also expect more convenience and flexible access to services, driven by broader digital experience and emerging technology.”
Adeoye, a trustee at Open Banking Nigeria also commented that the new alliance would lead to the development of the next generation of API standard for the Nigerian financial services industry.
The firms highlighted that the adoption of Open Banking in Nigeria is critical to improving customer engagement and building new digital revenue channels.
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It is also expected to influence the operations of other industries, including telecommunications, power, hospitality, retail, and insurance.
Open Banking Nigeria is a part of the Open Technology Foundation, and the organization is working to bring about digital as well as financial freedom in the country.
In order to do so, it needs to further streamline the technologies that are being used to power the banking system in the country.
In its efforts in Nigeria, the organization has zeroed in on standardizing the APIs that are used in banking and roped in EY so that the whole thing could be managed well.
Open Banking Nigeria has actually been working towards this for some time, and back in 2017, it had roped in the United Kingdom-based banking consulting firm Open Vector into its circle.
The plans made by Open Banking Nigeria are ambitious and one that could have far-reaching consequences if their plans come to fruition. It could prove to be a game-changer for the Fintech industry as well.
API: EY partners Open Banking Nigeria to reshape financial services
