US-based Sensedia has launched a ‘Fintech API Accelerator Platform’, allowing fintechs to rapidly scale their ecosystem strategy and incorporate AI products and Open Banking “readiness” into their services.
The new platform provides fintechs with Sensedia’s PCI-compliant platform, ‘AI CoPilot’, API services, and a developer’s portal, as well as Open Banking compliance support.
The Sensedia Fintech Accelerator can be used by fintechs on its own, or combined with one or more aggregators.
Lisa Arthur, Sensedia’s US managing director and global chief marketing officer, said fintechs are navigating rising costs, new compliance requirements and risk factors that impact valuations, meaning that scaling is “critical to staying competitive” in what she called “a saturated market”.
“Sensedia’s Fintech Accelerator offers fintechs expertise and a robust, financial-grade Open-Banking ready platform to navigate and incorporate complex compliance rules, data consent requirements, and emerging technologies like AI and Blockchain from one source,” said Arthur.
She added: “One of the most challenging problems for fintechs is the friction to integrate with financial ecosystems to deliver innovative products and services.
“The Fintech API Accelerator Platform allows fintechs to manage integration issues and enable rapid scaling.
“The platform also makes it easier to comply with changing regulations, such as the CFPB’s 1033 rule’s new Open Finance data requirements, enabling fintechs to become efficient data recipients or providers in the expanding Open Banking ecosystem.”
Sensedia confirmed that companies offering digital wallets, retail payment apps, or processing more than five million transactions yearly, including PayPal, Apple and Google, must comply with the proposed ruling.
DW Ferrell, chief executive officer of Localight, said the new API Accelerator Platform means that fintechs “can transform Open Banking into a seamless experience for financial institutions”.
“Our partnership allows us to deliver LocalCash rewards that not only enhance member engagement, but also stimulate economic activity in local communities,” Ferrell added.
In July, The Bank Policy Institute, The Clearing House Association, the Consumer Bankers Association, and the American Bankers Association wrote to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) director Rohit Chopra to request more time for US banks to comply with the proposed Personal Financial Data Rights rule.
Under the proposed ruling, individuals in the US will be able to share data about their use of checking and prepaid accounts, credit cards, and digital wallets, and to access competing products and services, without their data being collected, used, or retained to “serve commercial interests over their own”.
