An increasing number of companies are looking to take advantage of Open Banking opportunities, with bunq becoming one of the latest to do so via an integration with Mastercard.
The firm is utilising Mastercard’s Open Banking platform to give its 12.5 million customers a wider view of finances, aiming to offer greater capacity for budgeting and financial planning.
This capability has been combined with bunq’s own AI money assistant, Finn. Users will be able to ask Finn for an overview of expenses and costs, which will then be generated using Open Banking technology.
“Our users live life without borders, effortlessly blending home, work, and travel,” says Bianca Zwart, Chief of Staff at bunq.
“We’ve built the bunq app around their lifestyle, and this partnership takes it even further. By combining Mastercard Open Banking with bunq’s world-leading AI platform, the possibilities to enhance their experience are endless.”
The integration showcases the growing role both Open Banking and AI are having in financial services. The technologies have been some of the biggest talking points in payments and fintech circles in recent years, alongside other topics like cryptocurrency and CBDCs.
Mastercard, one of the world’s preeminent payments providers, has not allowed the opportunities of Open Banking to go unnoticed. In an interview with Payment Expert, Senior Vice President of Security Solutions and Processing, Tulsi Narayan, explained how the firm is using Open Banking.
The company’s efforts have also seen it move to accelerate adoption of Open Banking in its founding market of the US. Open Banking has been a largely European phenomenon for the most part, but the US, India and Australia – the latter a historical leader in the space in the eyes of some observers – are catching up.
This European preference for Open Banking has been noted by bunq, which observed that many consumers in the continent prefer to have more than one bank account. The firm is reporting an increase in user engagement already, stating that 40%of its surveyed customers increased usage of the app within two weeks of Open Banking launch.
Bart Willaert, EVP, International Open Banking, Mastercard, said: “We’re pleased to support a leading neobank like bunq, as they show a great example of how multiple benefits of open banking and AI can deliver an excellent user experience.
This collaboration showcases our strong platform and reach across Europe and the opportunities for scaling on our global open banking network.”
