Open Banking Fintech firm Nordic API Gateway has launched a platform, called Aiia, that aims to meet the opportunities of PSD2, which is a European regulation for digital payment services.
PSD2 aims to make electronic payments more secure in Europe, support innovation and assist banking service providers with adopting new technologies. PSD2 may be considered evidence of the growing importance that APIs are beginning to have in the transformation of global financial markets.
Nordic API Gateway’s Aiia platform is expected to meet the opportunities of PSD2 for all businesses, which should make it easier to integrate innovative solutions without dealing with the time-consuming and costly processes of acquiring and maintaining an (Account Information Service Provider) AISP or (Payment Initiation Service Providers) PISP license.
With the launch of the Aiia platform, the Nordic API Gateway team thinks that any industry can benefit from the PSD2-enabled access to account-to-account payments along with secure access to financial data.
Nordic API also believes that with Aiia, there will be several new Open Banking use cases within retail, accounting system providers, and digital commerce. Currently, there are not too many firms that have been authorized as third-party providers by the FSAs in the Nordic region since the launch back in 2018. This indicates that financial innovation might not be taking place as fast as it has the potential of growing, according to Rune Mai, CEO and Founder at Nordic API Gateway:
Mai stated:
“Open Banking hasn’t been as open as we’ve hoped for; we haven’t seen many TPP registrations going live across the Nordics. … we see that the interest in using financial data and instant account-to-account payments is increasing across industries and the Open Banking movement is starting to mature. Our recent survey amongst SMEs and financial institutions shows that more than 91% of the surveyed were aware of PSD2.”
Companies have to acquire an AISP or PISP license from Financial Supervisory Authorities before they can gain access to financial data or use Open Banking payments services on behalf of their European clients.
But Mai noted that these types of licenses can be quite costly and also really time-consuming and challenging to acquire for small startups and companies that don’t fit the typical profile or requirements needed to obtain an AISP or PISP, based on various guidelines provided by the FSAs in Europe. This is where the Aiia platform could help, as it may allow smaller companies to test and get operations started with the power of an all-digital bank in their apps from the first day they start offering services.
With the Aiia platform, Mai and the Nordic API Gateway team members aim to provide a fast track to accessing Open Banking services and also plan to bring PSD2 into its full effect for all businesses by offering the complete package or what Mai refers to as “Open Banking with the batteries included.”
He added:
“With Aiia, we’re doing an Open Banking with batteries included model. There’s nothing sadder than spending hours unpacking a product that’s tied to the packaging only to realize that it needs 10 batteries that aren’t included. That’s exactly what Open Banking is today to many businesses that want to get going with the PSD2-enabled opportunities for their customers straightaway.”
He continued:
“With Aiia, you get to interact with the product right out of the box and basically skip the hassle of lengthy and ongoing registration processes and expenses.”
The Aiia platform is being introduced in several different European countries. It will be providing updated account information and payment initiation services in order to fulfill applicable Open Banking requirements. Aiia is currently being used by several firms across different industries in the Nordic region, and the Nordic API Gateway team is planning a full launch at some point next year.