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Finastra has revealed a sneak peek at its annual State of the Nation Financial Services research. Results point to the significant progress the industry has made around open finance and collaboration, despite the challenging market conditions of the last few years.

The research takes in views from 758 professionals at financial institutions and banks across Hong Kong, Singapore, France, Germany, the UAE, the UK and the US, and finds:

• Singapore is a global leader, with 90% of professionals agreeing that open finance is already making the industry more collaborative and is having a positive impact. This is compared to a global average of 85% and 76% for Hong Kong.
• Singapore is also ahead in terms of collaboration—a key driver of innovation—with 9 in 10 agreeing that the sector is open to collaboration (compared to 83% in Hong Kong, 84% globally). Professionals in both of Asia’s biggest finance hubs overwhelmingly see this as an improvement compared to five years ago (90% in Singapore and Hong Kong), echoing the sentiment found globally (87% global average).

“These compelling figures speak to a marked industry shift towards ‘open’ and reflect our journey, creating ways to innovate at scale and pace, and accelerate innovation through collaboration,” said Simon Paris, CEO at Finastra. “In 2018 we declared that the future of finance is open. And we weren’t just talking about Open Banking, but true open finance—disrupting and reshaping the foundation of financial services. That future is now, and we can simply say: Finance is open.”

In the last few years, the industry has seen the unbundling of banking, with institutions offering products procured outside of their organisation, a move to contextual and conscious banking services which meet the customer at the point of need, and a greater desire from many companies to do well by doing good. All of these form part of the shift to open.

The encouraging research findings coincide with the launch of season two on Finastra Universe TV—a new series of on-demand digital thought leadership videos exploring this world of open finance. Tune in to the free-to-access content, designed to help financial institutions better compete, with insights from Finastra experts, industry analysts and customers that are shaping the world of finance. Explore the latest trends in lending, payments, universal banking (digital, retail and commercial banking), treasury and capital markets and Finastra’s broader commitments, including:

Open Technology: Collaborating to Innovate 

An open platform and open and collaborative ecosystem are enablers for fairer and more accessible banking services. Finastra’s Banking as a Service (BaaS) strategy is focused on orchestrating a financial ecosystem that creates economic growth via greater accessibility to affordable financial services. This is underpinned by FusionFabric.cloud, an open platform for innovation and collaboration. The platform is the key orchestrator in driving innovation to Finastra customers, whether they are banks, financial institutions or other fintechs. Since its launch, FusionFabric.cloud has opened up over 300 APIs and datasets, enabling the launch of over 200 FinTech applications now consumed by over 700 customers.

Open Communities: Creating More Equitable Access to Banking

Sustainable environmental and social value creation in financial services has never been more important. Technology allows for greater access, transparency and equality at scale—an opportunity to contribute to a better world:

• Providing critical capital to the SME sector with ICC TradeComm, a trade funding marketplace matching supply and demand, ultimately aiming to decrease the global trade finance gap.

• Delivering affordable access to formal financial services to 100 million ‘unbanked’ members of credit unions and Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLAs) by 2030 through collaboration with our customers in the developing world. Finastra has also invested in supporting financial literacy programs for schoolchildren, students and business owners as far afield as the southern US and east Africa.

Open Culture: Building a Path for Success through Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Breaking through barriers, building skills and creating a workplace where people feel they belong contributes to Finastra’s ‘open by default’ DE&I mantra. 2030 is the year Finastra expects to achieve 50:50 gender equality across its operations. Finastra has reached its ambition at the executive leadership level and is continuing the journey to embrace the full spectrum of diversity while creating an open culture where everyone can thrive.

Access Finastra Universe TV here.

Finastra’s 2022 ESG report is available here.

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