FinTechs Set The Stage For Open Banking Adoption Catalyst

As open banking frameworks spread across new markets, financial service providers are fueling adoption of technologies that can unlock data and promote interoperability between banks and FinTechs. This week’s roundup of the latest in open banking and bank-FinTech collaboration finds service providers exploring new use-cases for Open Banking, like facilitating small business refunds, and explores the FinTechs setting the stage for more third-party adoption of the model.

NatWest Wields Open Banking For SMB Refunds

With small businesses continuing to face financial challenges due to the pandemic, NatWest is hoping to lower the cost of facilitating refunds for its small and medium-sized business (SMB) clients in the U.K., and is turning to open banking to do so. Reports in AltFi said NatWest’s open banking payments unit Payit is now rolling out a service for small businesses to send money to their customers more affordably. In a statement, James Hodgson, the bank’s head of commercial payments, said the solution “allows businesses to send payments that are credited to customer accounts in a matter of seconds, and all without the need for their bank details.” Payit uses the U.K.’s Faster Payments framework, and offers an alternative to checks or the bank transfer scheme BACS.

Tarabut Lands Funding For Open Banking Tech

Based in Bahrain, Tarabut Gateway operates an open banking platform that allows FinTechs and third-party platforms to access their customers’ bank data. The company just raised what reports in Mena Bytes says is the largest seed round for a startup in the MENA (Middle East, North Africa) region. The firm secured $13 million led by European VC Target Global, while Kingsway, Entrée Capital, CE Ventures, Zamil Investment Group, Global Ventures, Almoayed Technologies and Mad’a Investment also participated. With operations in Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and the U.K., Tarabut offers Account Aggregation as well as Payment Initiation capabilities under open banking frameworks. “The Open Banking industry is a catalyst for transforming the way banks and FinTechs in the region interact with one another,” Founder and CEO Abulla Almoayed said in a statement.

DZ Bank Digitizes Trade Finance With Surecomp

Germany’s DZ Bank is turning to a FinTech partner to help modernize its trade finance operations. A press release issued by Surecomp said DZ Bank will integrate Surecomp’s DOKA-NG trade finance platform, which processes trade finance transactions powered by APIs. DZ Bank’s Hong Kong branch is at the center of the financial institution’s international trade finance operations, the press release noted, and through adopting Surecomp technology, those workflows can embrace automation. “Starting the transition to DOKA-NG is a natural progression in our. digitization journey,” DZ Bank Head of Documentary Trade Thomas Arendt said in a statement.

Primer Debuts Platform To Drive Third Party Payments Connectivity

U.K.-based Primer is fueling further collaboration and data integration in the financial services industry with its newly-announced open-app framework, Primer Connect. The platform enables third-party payment service providers to build their own integrations, allowing that payment infrastructure to embrace an open and agnostic model. According to Primer, the solution is also designed to lower the barriers to entry of new payment solutions, with plans to develop new APIs to further fuel connectivity across the industry.