Secure Open Banking: how to avoid risks and maximise benefits

In August 2023, the National Bank of Ukraine approved the Open Banking Concept.

It provides free financial information exchange between different institutions (banks, fintech companies and other providers). 

Open banking allows third-party providers to access consumers' financial data through application programming interfaces (APIs). This gives consumers greater control over their finances, the ability to share their financial information, and the convenience of using services from different providers simultaneously.

There is no doubt that the benefits of open banking are enormous: 

• Convenience (customers can manage their finances in all banks and fintech institutions through one application); 
• Competition between financial institutions (banks significantly improve their services and reduce their costs); 
• Security (due to many regulatory requirements, the security of financial transfers is increasing, and the protection of customers' personal data is growing); 
• New services (financial institutions start offering new services and products to their customers).

However, there are also certain risks:

• Complexity of implementation (it is difficult for financial institutions to implement software solutions on their own in compliance with regulatory requirements); 
• Security (due to the free exchange of financial information, the possibility of confidentiality breaches and increased payment fraud increases).

To effectively manage these risks, Integrity Vision has a ready-made solution that meets all regulatory requirements: TESOBE Open Bank Project. This is a specialised open source platform that helps financial institutions implement the concept of open banking, providing a secure and convenient exchange of financial information between banks and third-party providers.

Integrity Vision has announced a partnership with TESOBE, the founder of the Open Bank Project, to ensure PSD2 compliance for financial institutions across Ukraine. This cooperation brings together Integrity Vision's practical experience in implementing digital solutions in the Ukrainian banking sector and TESOBE's proven open banking platform, trusted by financial institutions around the world.

"This partnership provides Ukrainian banks with the fastest path to PSD2 compliance using a reliable, modular, open-source platform that has been deployed around the globe," said Simon Redfern, CEO of TESOBE and Founder of the Open Bank Project.

Thanks to its deep expertise, the Integrity Vision team provides a full cycle of platform implementation: from API integration to setting up secure authentication and consent mechanisms.

With TESOBE Open Bank Project, financial institutions can meet the regulatory requirements used in Europe, Mexico, Brazil, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Australia, including the Berlin Group, UK Open Banking and Open Bank Project, and offer new, innovative services to their customers. 

The average time to compliance is around three months, depending on the size of the institution and the state of its existing systems.

Features and benefits of TESOBE Open Bank Project

TESOBE Open Bank Project is a global standard and comprehensive API solution for the financial industry that allows you to create, test and manage financial APIs, ensuring secure data exchange and accelerating the development of digital services.

The components of the platform:

• API Gateway — traffic control, access restriction and load balancing.
• Developer Portal is a platform for developers to register and access APIs.
• API Manager is a tool for managing APIs in test and production environments.
• API Explorer is a catalogue of over 550 pre-built APIs, documentation and test environments.
• Opey AI Assistant — Artificial intelligence to assist developers and automate the search for APIs.
• Auth & Consent — built-in authentication and consent mechanisms for regulatory compliance.
• Sandbox — a testing environment for verifying APIs against test data.
• Analytics & Monitoring — API usage monitoring and analysis tools.
• Consent Tester is an open-source solution for regulatory compliance testing.

Key benefits:

• 550+ APIs — Instant access to an extensive library of APIs so you can start exchanging data on day one.
• Global compliance — support for Open Banking in Europe, South America and the Middle East.
• API analytics — monitor traffic and key performance indicators and improve your API strategy.
• Flexible access control — the ability to control which applications access the API and how.
• Rate limiting — control the intensity of API requests to avoid overloading.
• AI Assistant — an intelligent developer assistant that makes working with APIs easier.

In addition to being an official partner of TESOBE, Integrity Vision has extensive experience in implementing Open Banking solutions in Ukraine, adapting them to the requirements of the local market and the specific business needs of customers. Our experts will help financial institutions to integrate Open Bank Project quickly and securely, optimising processes and minimising risks.

“For Ukrainian banks today, it is important not only to comply with regulatory requirements but also to do so quickly, reliably, and cost-effectively. Together with TESOBE, we offer a ready-made, proven platform that allows us to achieve PSD2 compliance without building solutions from scratch. This partnership allows us to offer our customers the best possible path to open banking.” — Inna Soloviova, CEO & Co-Founder of Integrity Vision.

TESOBE Open Bank Project is not just a platform, but a comprehensive solution for implementing Open Banking, combining advanced technologies, expert support and compliance with international standards.

Contact us and Integrity Vision experts will advise you - marketing@integrity.com.ua.