The first Big Four bank is moving towards open APIs
ANZ is developing new systems that will allow for external data sharing.
ANZ Bank has announced it is designing a system that would allow external organisations to access data held by the bank. It's the first of the Big Four to announce it is actively working towards an open system of data sharing.
Speaking to the Australian Financial Review, ANZ's general manager of consumer digital technology Christian Venter said the bank was increasing its use of cloud platforms as well as readying itself for open data sharing.
"As technology moves on we have had to adapt, there is now a customer demand for everything sooner, faster, better and cheaper and so we as a bank have embraced all of those technologies and changed the way we do delivery," he said.
The announcement comes amidst calls for private sector organisations, most notably banks, to share data with outside organisations through open APIs. Fintech companies and organisations such as Fintech Australia have called on banks to move towards an open banking API regime in order to foster innovation and economic competition.
Open APIs would allow companies to access the wealth of data held by banks and other private companies in order to develop products and services. In the recent explosion of fintech, this issue has become one of the primary complaints of fintech companies.
A draft report from a Productivity Commission Inquiry into "Data Availability and Use" will be released in November 2016, with the final Inquiry report being released in May 2017. Over 200 submissions have been received.
While ANZ is the first to announce its developing systems for open data access, Westpac has also launched a new data management platform called Databank, which will store identity information for companies that are sharing data through Data Republic.
