Overview
Our Open Finance and Inclusion Summit took place on 20 April 2021.
About the Summit
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted societies across the globe and changed the way many people work and access services. Financial services (FS) sit at the core of the economy and enable a wide range of activities from accessing salaries and benefits, mortgages, and cash and capital management. Industry and government reacted quickly and at an unprecedented pace to establish new schemes and processes to continue to support the economy and communities.
Throughout 2020 we have seen the real value of digital finance, how it can transform the way everyone accesses, stores and moves money. Not embracing the digital transformation journey could be detrimental to the resilience of the ecosystem as well as customers' ability to access essential services. Efforts are also required to ensure that no one is left behind and that everyone can access and benefit from the entire financial services ecosystem.
This conference, brought together high-level speakers from the whole industry and government to take stock and look ahead as the ecosystem considers how best to extend the principles of Open Banking into Open Finance and concentrate efforts to ensure financial inclusion is at the core of the deployment of new services, technologies and use cases.
In the UK, customers can enjoy a wide range of services from multiple providers. The fintech revolution brought to market many new solutions and ways of consuming FS services. Technology is now a core part of banks and other providers’ products. The increased use of artificial intelligence, machine learning, big data analytics combined with new architecture design supported by biometrics, cloud and distributed ledger technology is a game changer.
These developments could not take place without data, and particularly data sharing and mobility. The big innovation comes from the use of data produced, which has vastly increased during the past decade and can now be shared and analysed to provide customers with better experiences and services. The Revised Payment Services Directive provided a stimulus to the ecosystem, enabling customers to choose to securely share their FS data with third party providers in return for personalised services, advice and analysis of their incomings and outgoings.
As we approach the completion of the final road map for the implementation of Open Banking and regulators and Government’s consultation on Open Finance, we need to bring the ecosystem together to consider the best approach to achieve Open Finance.
Beyond Open Finance, digital finance and the application of new technologies can improve inclusion in the United Kingdom, helping companies reach all customers and respond to the pressing needs of businesses, communities, and individuals. There are also challenges to overcome with regards to accessibility, and here again technology could provide some innovative solutions.
As we move towards a digital finance world, opening many opportunities for the financial services ecosystem to provide new secure services, we must make inclusion a fundamental part of every step of this journey.
You can view all of the content from the Open Finance and Inclusion Summit here.
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