The final sprint to PSD2

Finologee is helping banks strategically move to a new digital business model with its ‘PSD2 for Banks’ product. In the past few months Finologee has become the preferred solution for private/commercial banks as well as E-Money and Payment Institutions in Luxembourg to comply with PSD2.

Race to September 14th

The industry has been facing major changes that are reshaping how financial services are built, delivered and consumed thanks to the PSD2 regulation.

Many bankers’ attitudes have changed a lot in the last few years. Not long ago, quite a few of them were rather negative towards open banking, and advocating against opening-up bank’s, EMI’s and PIs payment and account management systems. But there has been an important shift to a more positive attitude about the opportunities and innovation the regulation encourages.

To attack the challenges and adjust their business models before the September 14th 2019 deadline, banks are engaged in strategic partnerships with FinTechs like Finologee that allow financial organisations to take the leap up to a new level – and started implementing more sophisticated and scalable technology to keep up with growing customer expectations. The right partnership allows a bank to deliver digital services to customers at the same speed as the technological advances that make them possible. It also empowers banks to move beyond a tech legacy that had left them isolated in their own environments – and set-up an efficient interconnection between banks’ systems and the outside world.

A thorough approach

Finologee’s founders embarked on the digital finance journey during the summer of 2017 after gaining extensive expertise in providing payment services with Digicash, Luxembourg’s preferred mobile payment product, with the aim to turn regulatory challenges into business successes. It has been fairly easy for Finologee to build on that experience and develop the PSD2 APIs based on the RTS (Regulatory Technical Standards). Finologee’s PSD2 APIs currently allow more than 30 banks in 9 markets across Europe to build the future of financial services while being fully compliant with regulatory requirements.

Finologee’s ‘PSD2 for Banks’ product has become the preferred solution of private and commercial banks in Luxembourg to comply with the revised payments services directive thanks to the company’s thorough approach. We not only make sure our client banks have proficient PSD2 APIs: available and easily accessible, well-documented, clear on eIDAS, customer-friendly, comprehensive and fully testable; we also help them prepare for an entirely new business dynamic in a way that secures their business against disruption. To achieve this, we partner with top level advisory firms to help banks encounter compliance and change management related challenges, as well as with IT integrators to cope with technical challenges.

To streamline and accelerate our journey into the API economy and offer our clients compelling new customer experiences we have partnered with IBM. Together with the tech giant we have implemented a hybrid cloud strategy to support secure and flexible banking network for PSD2. Adopting this hybrid cloud strategy has enabled Finologee to innovate more quickly and meet the shifting needs of today’s digital customers while managing evolving security and regulatory challenges.

Focus on customer experience

As a FinTech company we are renowned for the ability to take new services to market within a matter of days or weeks. For any bank, scaling up a standalone app or service can be expensive when you consider processes, risk and compliance. Working with FinTechs gives banks low-risk access to the latest, cloud-based technology – and the chance to innovate at a much greater speed.

However, by working with us, our clients not only get an off-the-shelf open banking technology implemented in a quick and efficient way, we are also committed to help them create truly customer-centric services and come out as winners. For us, our clients’ success is invaluable and for that we empower each client to have their very own PSD2 strategy for external connections via third-party providers (TPPs) instead of having a common portal for all.

Finologee uses the momentum gained from PSD2 compliance as a springboard – helping our clients shift their focus towards embracing the possibilities of open banking technology and developing a great customer experience.

Take the example of one of our major clients, Indosuez Wealth Management.

Indosuez Wealth Management aims to successfully comply with the regulations; but is also starting to look ahead to the opportunities open banking presents to create better experiences on par with the competition in a post-September 2019 world.

Strategic alliances

Partnerships are at the core of Finologee’s business, we design all our products, projects and services around partnerships: we leverage joint commitments to speed up development and to quickly reach required size and scale. We do so both with the people that work with us and the companies we work with or for: a carefully built and designed partnership is the cornerstone to a successful and long-lasting project, product or collaboration.

Recently we have partnered with two key players in Europe to expand our reach, both territory-wise and offering-wise.

On one hand, we are collaborating with New Access, which is a leading private banking software provider in over 18 countries, it supports more than 180 software installations for private banks and wealth management firms. Through this strategic partnership, New Access which has already integrated Finologee’s ‘PSD2 for Banks’ module into its own platform to serve two of its client banks, will now provide it to its client banks in 18 countries. As a result, Finologee will expand its international presence and availability to many European territories in the upcoming months while ensuring full PSD2 compliance for New Access’ clients. As a first step, the focus will be on New Access’ Luxembourg, Liechtenstein and UK clients. This collaboration will deliver a significant leap forward toward a more accessible and better-connected EU-wide payment ecosystem.

On the other hand, we have joined forces with LaFinBox, which is a mobile asset management application that gives users a global overview of their finances by consolidating all their assets. By aligning our strengths and integrating LaFinBox’s advanced Personal Financial Management (PFM) application into Finologee’s Trusted FinTech Platform we make the market’s best Fintech solutions accessible to Luxembourg’s financial community. The goal of this offering is to create a better, more seamless experience for users than what is currently available – and to pioneer new ways for people to manage and interact with their money. Ways even we have yet to imagine.

A post-PSD2 world

As banks launch open APIs to meet the requirements prescribed by PSD2 – we’ve officially entered a data democracy, where customers have the power to share their data with anyone they choose. Financial institutions know this is where the future is heading, and they want to be on this train. Finologee is committed to helping banks/EMIs/PIs find their way through PSD2 and successfully cross the finish line.