This archive report was first published on 15 July 2020.
On July 15, 2020, Open Banking emerged as a game-changer in the African financial landscape, offering a plethora of opportunities for banks and the region as a whole.
By leveraging the Open Banking infrastructure, African banks can acquire the skills and tools required to build their own ecosystem, thereby transforming their offerings with innovative, agile, and efficient solutions that strengthen customer relationships and increase revenue.
One of the key benefits of Open Banking is the elimination of restrictions that limit access to customer financial data, allowing account holders to own and share their data with other third parties at their discretion.
Through the use of open Application Program Interfaces (APIs), Open Banking facilitates business-to-business collaboration and the creation of new ecosystems and business models, benefiting both financial institutions and their customers.
According to Polys Hadjikyriacos, Chief Business Development Officer at NETInfo, Open Banking in Africa will play a pivotal role in offering financial services to large sectors of the population who have never had access to financial services before.
“Open Banking in Africa will drive transformation in digital financial services by permitting consumers to own and share their data and enabling banks and FinTech companies to utilize this data to offer enhanced products and services to the market,” Hadjikyriacos said.
Another positive aspect of Open Banking from an African perspective is the ability to learn from experiences in other regions and implement a model that best fits their needs.
