Ismail Chaib and the Open Bank Project have been working on open APIs for banking since before the word “fintech” was even a thing. In the early days he had to explain to bankers what API was – now they know, but open APIs are still a rarity. The Open Bank Project is located in Europe and was a firsthand participant in much of the work that has been done to make bank data available to third parties. This issue is still contentious for banks, who are responsible for safeguarding customer accounts. Many bankers don’t see much advantage in opening accounts, especially when business cases for doing so are uncertain at best. In this episode, Chaib describes what has happened in Europe and the rest of the world, and what might happen in the U.S., where the approach is largely market-driven.

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