PRESS RELEASE - Berlin Group starts new openFinance API Framework

Today, the Berlin Group announces that they will start to work on a full openFinance API (Application Programming Interface) Framework. Leveraging the NextGenPSD2 API Framework technology and infrastructure investments, openFinance allows banks and TPPs to offer enhanced services, products and information that will benefit market participants and will further improve customer experiences. Berlin Group openFinance adds standardised extensions beyond the regulatory PSD2 scope that enable bank customers (consumer or corporate account owners), directly or via a Third Party Provider (TPP), to access bank accounts for commercial premium services and data. By expanding the access of customers’ financial data to broader data sources and additional account types, enhanced views on customers’ finances are offered which will empower bank customers to actively choose the best value products and services they need.

Based on open industry standards (e.g. REST, JSON, ISO20022), the openFinance API Framework will offer a modern, harmonised and interoperable set of APIs as the safest and most efficient way to provide data securely. The Berlin Group will start by working on new services already requested by market participants, e.g. on new payment functionalities such as Pay by Loan, Request-to-Pay and Reservation of Funds, on direct access APIs for corporates and digital contracting, and on SEPA Direct Debit eMandates. The framework will be extended to include new data elements and new account types for e.g. savings, loans and securities accounts. Together with an Advisory Board additional ideas are explored, such as support for advanced customer journeys via subscription-based push notifications. In addition, the standardisation efforts of the new API Framework will be attuned to the ambitions of the European Commission’s Retail Payments Strategy and to any relevant scheme definition, either coming from national requirements or at European level, such as e.g. from a SEPA API Access Scheme as envisaged by the Euro Retail Payments Board (chair: European Central Bank).

The Berlin Group openFinance API Framework will integrate the work of the NextGenPSD2 API Framework in order to ensure future compliance with any additional regulatory clarifications.

The start of the openFinance API Framework was introduced to the market via a press release. The full text of the press release can be found here.