Open finance offers great potential
23.12.2020
The issue of open finance is becoming increasingly important, both globally and in Switzerland. It will play a central role for the Swiss financial centre in the future. The roundtable held on 23 December 2020 and chaired by the Swiss Finance Minister Ueli Maurer provided an opportunity for in-depth discussions on the topic.
Based on the principle of sharing financial data via standardised and secure interfaces, open finance represents above all a paradigm shift, as it gives control of data back to consumers, who can choose which items of their information can be shared and who can access them. This is achieved through innovative and easy-to-use services.
Private initiatives in Switzerland
Unlike in other countries, especially in the EU, there is currently no legal obligation in Switzerland for financial institutions to share client data with third-party providers via standardised interfaces. However, a number of players have launched initiatives in Switzerland, in particular to standardise technical interfaces.
This is especially true since Switzerland has a robust pool of companies active in financial technology (fintechs) and benefits from favourable framework conditions for innovation. The State Secretariat for International Finance is in regular contact with industry representatives on the subject and actively supports these developments.