Mr. Open Banking

The concept of digital disruption is no longer revolutionary for most businesses. In fact, digital transformation has become a prerequisite for ensuring you’re not left behind. Although banking is often perceived as a dated industry, banks are no strangers to digital disruption, dating back to the inception of ATMs. Yet disruption today is catapulting beyond familiar ground. The emergence and exponential development of the Internet has eliminated costs associated with running a bank and reaching your customers, costs that were previously considered fundamental. This opens up the door for competition and innovation, creating an environment where savvy customers demand intuitive, customized digital experiences from everyone they deal with - including their banks. In this episode, Eyal sits down with Andrew Moor, President and CEO of EQ Bank, Canada’s Challenger Bank. EQ is committed to exploring how banks can leverage technology to improve the societies in which they operate, so it comes as no surprise that they are strong advocates of open banking.Specifically, Eyal and Andrew discuss: The Canadian banking landscape;The role of the big five banks;Infrastructure modernization for open banking;How to succeed at launching a digital bank;Business models for banks in the open space.

Open banking isn’t just about finance, it’s also about improving society. One of open banking’s key facets is its ability to create non-zero sum outcomes, meaning that one person’s gain doesn’t equal another person’s loss. Globally, we need to consider how best to harness this quality as we move towards a brighter, greener and more equitable future. In this episode, Eyal sits down with Faith Reynolds, champion of the open banking for good movement. Faith has been in open banking since the beginning, and has worked on a multitude of unique challenges, ranging from enforcement and redress all the way through to accessibility, vulnerability and other issues concerning financial inclusion. Today, Faith is on the board at Fair4All Finance and is a driving force behind Current Account Switch Service at Pay.UK. Together, they discuss how open banking can be used to create a better world, where banks are not just engines of capitalism but also engines of social good. Specifically, Eyal and Faith discuss: Do banks currently provide a social good?;Exploring the Open Banking Manifesto; How open banking can improve vulnerability, accessibility, and inclusion;The real needs of the underbanked; The right of individuals to claim value from their data.

Right now, approximately two billion people across the globe are unbanked - meaning they have no connection to any banking system of any kind. Banks simply cannot make their business model work to serve low-income households properly, let alone the poor, which means that even the simplest of transactions such as payments become a challenge, often widening the gap between the haves and have nots. However, thanks to technology, things are improving. As the open banking movement continues to expand, the unbanked might just be the perfect source of untapped economic potential. On this episode of Mr. Open Banking, Eyal speaks with Carlos Kazuo Missao, the Director of GFT Group in Sao Paulo and a leader in the digital transformation of financial services. The two discuss how Brazil is using open banking to bridge their societal divide between a mature, developed economy and extreme poverty. Specifically, Carlos and Eyal discuss: Who are the unbanked and how do they fit into Brazil’s plans; How Brazil’s banks are catering the unbanked population; The big three regulations Brazillian banks need to follow;How open banking is leveling the playing field.

The podcast discusses the importance of digital identity and personal data, the role of OpenID Foundation in managing data sharing, the complexities of identity in open banking, evolving security protocols, managing distributed identities, the fluid nature of identity, and the significance of digital identity in financial transactions.

At the heart of open banking lies an important and difficult question: do you own your data?As internet giants like Facebook and Google continue to grow, data rights seem like a natural next step in our society. After all, data has surpassed oil in value and yet, most consumers know very little about what their data is actually being used for and how it is being shared. In our final episode of Mr. Open Banking’s first season, Eyal sits down with industry expert James Bligh, Co-Founder of RedCrew and lead developer for Australia’s Consumer Data Right (CDR). The two discuss what makes the CDR unique among open banking standards, the debate about whether data is even yours to begin with, and the ongoing journey towards the establishment of universal data rights.Specifically, James and Eyal discuss:What Australia’s “Consumer Data Right” (CDR) is and what it means for consumers;The ongoing demand for data to be put back in the hands of consumers;The CDR’s implications on Australian banks;The difference between data rights, data standards, data ownership, and data control;How the current data monopolies led by tech giants are impacted by open banking.

In modern banking, new digital challengers are taking on traditional players by providing a better experience for end-customers. Banks need to either keep up or get left behind. On the seventh episode of Mr. Open Banking, Eyal is joined by David Brear to discuss what David calls “The Banking Battlefield.” The two dive into FinTechs' role in challenging major banks to solve consumer problems and the reasons why banks are inhibiting themselves from making changes. David Brear is the Founder and CEO of 11FS, a world-renowned FinTech consultancy that focuses on building and launching the next generation of digital propositions for some of the biggest banks in the world. Specifically, David and Eyal Discuss: What exactly “The Banking Battlefield” is and what it looks like today; The difference between digitize and digital;What GAFAs entrance into the FinTech space means for big banks;The relationship between fintech and open banking.

While sharing financial data is part of the equation, open banking only really gets interesting when you add the ability to move money around. In the sixth episode of Mr. Open Banking, Eyal is taking us through the world of payments with Nilixa Devlukia, the CEO and Founder of Payments Solved. A lawyer by background, Nilixa is shaking up the payment ecosystem to make it more secure, transparent, and inclusive. Her work has spanned the European Commission, European Central Bank, and even the EU. Throughout the episode, the two discuss what needs to happen to create an open payments ecosystem across the globe. Specifically, Nilixa and Eyal discuss:What electronic payments are and how they work; How open banking changes the payments landscape ; What still needs to be done to enable open banking payments; The role of cryptocurrencies and central banks;The future of the global payments landscape. To learn more about Nilixa, check out the following: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nilixa-devlukia-49162a35/

Who controls financial data in Canada? How will the ultimate arrival of open banking change that? In our fifth episode of Mr. Open Banking, Eyal comes home to Canada to discuss the challenges and opportunities surrounding the Canadian ecosystem with Senator Colin Deacon. Prior to joining the Canadian Senate in Nova Scotia, Senator Deacon ran several global technology businesses and today is a vocal advocate for open banking in Canada. During their conversation, they touch on data privacy, financial transparency, and the balance between regulatory and market demand. Specifically, Colin and Eyal discuss:What the financial landscape in Canada currently looks like;The importance of consumer data rights;Why financial transparency is needed to share information between institutions;What pushback has occurred when advocating for a more open, democratic financial system.To learn more about Colin, check out the following: Website: https://sencanada.ca/en/senators/deacon-colin/Twitter: https://twitter.com/colindeacon?lang=enLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/senatorcolindeacon/

What could radical transparency do for our financial ecosystem? How do we create a world that is built on fundamental uncertainty, that adapts to our needs rather than determining them for us?  On our fourth episode of Mr. Open Banking, Eyal is joined by Paolo Sironi, Global Research Leader Banking and Financial Markets, IBM Institute for Business Value  and author of “Financial Market Transparency” and “FinTech Innovation”. By the end of this episode, you will understand the driving philosophical forces behind the open banking movement and gain a big picture understanding of what our financial landscape could look like with and without open banking. Specifically, Paolo and Eyal discuss:How to build a system that is better tailored to our behaviour as human beings;How the economy can better withstand the shocks of uncertain times;Why “radical transparency” is vital for our evolving financial ecosystem; The role of fundamental uncertainty in continually volatile environments; The underlying philosophy of open banking as a whole. To learn more about Paolo, check out the following: Website: http://www.thepsironi.com/Twitter: https://twitter.com/thepsironiLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thepsironi/

So, what is open banking and how does it work?In our first episode of Mr. Open Banking, Eyal sits down with Chris Michael, the Founder of Ozone API and the development leader of the open banking implementation entity (OBIE), to discuss the technology behind open banking.  If you’re not a techie, don’t worry, we do our best to explain everything in a simple, easy to understand way. By the end of this episode, you will have a clear foundation of what open banking is all about, how it can be used, and why it is supporting a better financial ecosystem for everyone. Specifically, the episode touches on:What is open banking?What are APIs and why are they important?Is open banking safe?Should we share our financial data?What could happen if banks don’t adopt open banking?If you want to learn more about Chris and his work at Ozone API, you can find him atwww.ozoneapi.com.