開放銀行的現狀與未來

The Present and Future of Open Banking

• Security is a major concern for both financial institutions and consumers,
• Regulation and data protection are essential to safeguard user data privacy.

The world of finance, particularly banking, has undergone tremendous changes over the past decade due to the increased adoption of technology, which has significantly disrupted the interactions between banks and consumers. Online banking and hyper-personalized apps are constantly being introduced to the public to build brand loyalty, help banks maintain a competitive advantage, increase revenue, and improve customer satisfaction.

According to the Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast report, the global online banking market size was valued at $11.43 billion in 2019 and is projected to reach $31.81 billion by 2027. This rapid growth can partly be sustained through open banking initiatives that allow third-party FinTechs to access consumer data directly from banks and non-bank financial institutions. At the same time, introducing data protection laws and regulations to ensure that financial institutions are held accountable for using personal data has set the bar of open banking adoption very high.

This article will look at the current state of open banking, examine some of the concerns and hesitations surrounding its adoption, and consider what measures need to be taken to facilitate its future.

Open Banking and Security

Given the nature of the sensitive data and information exchanged in open banking, the question of security naturally comes into focus. Security is a major concern for both financial institutions and consumers, and no discussion can take place regarding the future of open banking without taking this into account. In a report published by Curity, Facilitating the Future of Open Finance, over 71% of the 200 financial institutions surveyed expressed that security-related issues are paramount in open banking adoption. In particular, financial institutions were concerned about the lack of modern systems within their organization that comply with the requirements of securely sharing sensitive information. Furthermore, regulation and data protection are essential since laws have been introduced to safeguard user data privacy. Some examples of these regulations include the European Payment Services Directive (PSD2) and Open Banking Brazil.

In addition to these regulations, some open banking mandates require adopting financial-grade security protocols. These standards ensure that financial institutions can enhance security and meet customer demands for greater access to data and financial services. As such, financial institutions must make sure that financial information is protected and that APIs are strongly secured. The question of security comes again into focus when discussing open banking and consumer adoption. Without consumer adoption, there can't be a future for open banking.

Financial institutions have to take into consideration the data privacy concerns that consumers may have and educate them on the benefits of open banking. Consumers need to feel confident that the solutions and services offered can be trusted and that their financial information is always strongly protected. One way to facilitate this is by adopting strong authentication methods. Securely embedding data in tokens and enabling robust authorization using the standards from the OAuth family are some of the steps that financial institutions can take to ensure the highest level of security for customer data.