Against the backdrop of Open Banking, and in an effort to compete, financial institutions (FIs) must give consumers the ability to share their data with third parties, including FinTech firms. FIs, in turn, must also protect the security and integrity of that data, while giving consumers a sense of control over how and where it’s being used.
That’s been a tough line for most FIs to walk, Dave Fortney, executive vice president of product management and strategy at The Clearing House (TCH), told Karen Webster in a recent interview.
Historically, only the largest banks have had the resources — and the time — to devote to the extensive and technical application programming interface (API) integration, testing and compliance, and the legal and contractual reviews necessary to meet FI standards for data sharing, Fortney said. That has left smaller FIs, without those resources, at a competitive disadvantage.
After a year-long effort to address this disparity, TCH released a template this week, designed to help banks link with FinTech firms, connect to APIs and shorten the journey to financial services innovation.