Blog

Leveraging open finance: Practical applications in the financial industry.

Written by Micaela Kokko | May 8, 2024 8:04:37 AM

Open finance has during the recent years been reshaping the landscape of the financial industry, offering new opportunities for innovation, collaboration, and customer-centricity. In this blog post, we'll look into concrete examples that show how open finance is driving tangible benefits for financial institutions and their customers. From empowering financial advisors to driving innovation in product development, open finance is changing  the way financial services are delivered and experienced.

At its core, open finance revolves around securely sharing financial data and services through open APIs, facilitating greater transparency, efficiency, and ultimately, enhanced customer experiences. But how is open finance best utilized, and leveraged? 

Empowering financial advisors. 

Open finance can empower financial advisors by granting both them and their customers access to comprehensive financial data and insights through open APIs. With real-time access to customers’ information, banks and insurers can provide personalized recommendations, helping clients achieve their financial goals more effectively, while at the same time offering a much greater customer experience. 

Digital bancassurance. 

Bancassurance is not a new financial concept in itself; it involves the integration of banking and insurance services. Essentially, it allows banks to sell insurance products to their customers. This integration enables customers to access a wide range of insurance products, through their bank's channels. Bancassurance aims to provide customers with convenient access to insurance products while allowing banks to diversify their revenue streams and enhance customer loyalty. 

Digital bancassurance is based on the same concept, but in a much more seamless way, since the entire process can be done from A to Z within the banking app. By leveraging open APIs to integrate banking and insurance products, banks can allow customers to access a wide range of services through either banking apps or online platforms. 

Enhancing engagement and retention. 

Another concrete example of open finance in action is in the realm of customer engagement and retention. Financial institutions can leverage open finance to analyze customer behavior and preferences, allowing them to develop targeted engagement strategies and personalized offerings that foster loyalty and retention.

For instance, consider a bank using open finance to analyze transaction data and identify customers at risk of churn. By proactively reaching out to these customers with personalized offers or recommendations, the bank can mitigate churn and strengthen customer relationships, ultimately driving long-term loyalty and retention.

Innovation and product development. 

Open finance enables financial institutions to drive innovation and product development by leveraging data-driven insights. By analyzing customer financial data and behaviors, banks and insurers can identify emerging trends and market opportunities, allowing them to develop tailored products and services that meet evolving customer needs.

A bank using open finance to analyze spending patterns and financial goals of its customers could develop innovative savings and investment products that address specific customer needs and preferences, thereby driving greater engagement and loyalty.

In conclusion, open finance represents a paradigm shift in the financial industry, offering new possibilities for collaboration, innovation, and customer-centricity. By exploring concrete examples of how open finance is enabling various applications, we gain insights into its transformative potential and the opportunities it presents for driving positive change in the financial sector.

Those who adapt to this shift will thrive, gaining a competitive edge and strengthening customer relationships. However, those who resist risk falling behind in an increasingly digital and customer-centric world.

Want to secure your position in the future financial landscape? Just reach out, we’re always happy to discuss open finance and its possibilities.