Open Banking provides a standardised API platform allowing you to build applications that leverage bank account information along with historical and live transaction data regardless of the bank.

Build Secure Software

Follow our standards and build secure software that is both efficient and protects your customers, with guardianship provided by our AI.

A single solution

As you use our APIs the matter of what bank or financial provider your user belongs to becomes irrelevant, making development simple and quick.

Endless possibilities

Secure and consent-based access to data allows for endless possibilities. Help users and businesses with unique fintech solutions powered by us.

Use Cases

Instant Loans

A credit scoring service integrates with the open banking platform to streamline the credit approval process for lenders. By leveraging the Verification API, the service can instantly verify customers’ creditworthiness and income information, allowing lenders to make informed decisions when approving loan products. The service conducts real-time credit checks and income verification, providing reliable data to lenders while reducing fraud and default risk. This improves the efficiency of the lending process and enhances the overall customer experience for borrowers.

Financial Advisory Services

A financial advisory firm leverages the open banking platform to offer clients personalised financial advice and targeted marketing. Accessing the Transaction API allows the firm to aggregate and analyse clients’ financial data, including account balances, transaction history, and spending patterns. This data enables the firm to provide tailored financial recommendations and budgeting strategies to help clients achieve their financial goals. Additionally, the Marketing APl allows the firm to segment clients based on their financial profiles and behaviour, enabling targeted marketing campaigns for specific products or services.

Personal Finance Managment Application

A personal finance management app integrates with the open banking platform
to provide comprehensive financial management solutions to users. Using the Transaction API, users can link all their accounts from different FSPs, including bank accounts, credit cards, savings, and loans. The app then gives users an overview of their finances, including balances, transaction history, and categorised spending. Additionally, the Payment API allows users to initiate payments and transfers and even apply for instant credit directly from the app. The app can also offer cash flow analysis, providing insights into disposable income and spending trends to help users make better financial decisions.

Ecommerce Platform

An e-commerce platform integrates with your open banking platform to streamline the checkout process and offer additional payment options to customers. By leveraging the Payment API, the platform allows customers to initiate various types of payments, including instant credit for online purchases.
Customers can securely complete transactions without manually inputting their payment details, as the platform can access and consolidate payment methods stored across different FSPs connected to OBSA. This simplifies the customer checkout process and increases e-commerce platform conversion rates.

Industries

Banking

A view of a traditional old world bank in a major city

The banking industry can leverage open banking APIs to innovate services, improve customer experience and optimise operational efficiency.

Account Aggregation and Financial Management

Banks can use the Transaction API to offer account aggregation services, allowing customers to link and view all their accounts from different financial service providers within the bank’s platform. By providing a comprehensive overview of their finances, including balances, transaction history, and categorised spending, banks can empower customers to manage their money better and make informed financial decisions.

Payment and Transfer Services

The Payment API enables banks to offer customers various payment and transfer services. This includes initiating payments, transfers between accounts (both within the same FSP and across different FSPs), and instant credit for online purchases. By leveraging these APLs, banks can provide seamless and convenient payment solutions, enhancing the overall customer experience and increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Credit Scoring and Loan Approval

Banks can use the Verification API to streamline the credit scoring and loan approval process. By instantly verifying customers’ creditworthiness and income information, banks can make faster and more informed lending decisions. This can lead to improved loan processing efficiency, reduced default risk, and better customer outcomes, as customers can receive quicker approvals and access to credit when needed.

Personalised Banking and Marketing

Banks can leverage the Marketing API to analyse customer data and deliver personalised banking experiences and targeted marketing campaigns. By segmenting customers based on their financial behaviour and preferences, banks can offer tailored product recommendations, promotions, and financial advice, driving engagement and cross-selling opportunities.

Partnerships and Innovation

Open Banking APIs enable banks to collaborate with third-party developers, fintech startups, and FSPs to create innovative products and services. Banks can leverage these partnerships to expand their offerings, tap into new markets, and stay competitive in the rapidly evolving financial landscape. By embracing Open Banking APIs, banks can unlock new opportunities for growth, differentiation, and customer value creation.

Insurance

A comical look at how petty an insurance company can be by requiring protection from the rain for a toy car.

The insurance industry can leverage Open Banking APIs to enhance its services, streamline operations, and improve customer experience.

Risk Assessment and Underwriting

Insurance companies can tap into the Transaction API and Verification API to access a wealth of financial data about potential policyholders. This includes crucial information such as account balances, transaction history, and income verification. By scrutinizing this data, insurers can evaluate the financial stability and risk profile of applicants with greater precision. They can then customize insurance policies based on individual financial circumstances, leading to more accurate underwriting decisions and potentially lower premiums for low-risk customers.

Premium Financing and Payment Processing

The Payment API can facilitate premium payments and offer flexible payment options to policyholders. Insurance companies can integrate various payment methods, including bank transfers and credit/debit cards, to accommodate customer preferences. Additionally, insurers can leverage instant credit features to allow customers to finance their premiums directly through the insurance platform. This can improve affordability and accessibility for policyholders, leading to higher retention rates and customer satisfaction.

Claims Processing and Fraud Detection

The Transaction API’s unique ability to categorize and analyze transaction data is a powerful tool in claims processing and, notably, fraud detection. Insurers can automate the claims submission process by directly accessing transaction information from policyholders’ accounts. By cross-referencing transaction data with claims information, insurers can identify suspicious or fraudulent activities more efficiently. The inclusion of crowd-sourced fraud detection features further enhances this capability, flagging potentially fraudulent claims and helping insurers mitigate risks and reduce losses.

Personalised Insurance Products and Customer Engagement

Insurance companies can leverage the Marketing API to analyse customer data and tailor insurance products and services to individual needs and preferences. By segmenting customers based on their financial profiles and behaviour, insurers can offer personalised insurance recommendations and targeted marketing campaigns. For example, insurers can offer discounts or incentives to customers who demonstrate responsible financial behaviours, such as maintaining healthy savings or making on-time payments. This encourages positive financial habits and strengthens customer loyalty and retention.

By integrating open banking APLs into their operations, insurance companies can enhance risk management, streamline processes, and deliver more personalised and efficient customer services.

How to join Open Banking SA

Step One

Check the services you will offer and consult with FAIS if you need to register and be compliant.

    • Visit Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services at the Financial Services Board website to ensure that you are compliant;
    • If you are in a different country, check with your regulator;
    • Seek legal or professional advice if you are unsure.
Step Two

Enroll with Open Banking; part of the enrollment will involve verification and background checks.

    • Your participation is vital to us. We will require specific information such as the Company Name, Registration Number, and your company’s registration in South Africa to proceed with the enrollment.
    • We also require a primary business and technical contact to work with on the enrollment;
    • You’ll need to agree to verification and credit checks, which are necessary to keep our customers secure.

We take the protection of private and business information very seriously. Our documented policy on data and information handling can be found in our footer menu.

Step three

You can review our API integrations and decide which APIs to use, depending on the depth of services you would like to offer.

    • Please review the technical documentation on our API standards
    • Please get familiar with our API stack in our Sandbox
Step Four

Once successfully verified, you will be sent credentials to access our Developer Sandbox. This includes all the API interfaces along with test banks and fictious customer data, allowing you to replicate almost real environments.

    • You can check out our Developer Zone and learn how the Sandbox API works, how to enrol for a certificate and what rules you need to follow.
Step Five

When you are ready, apply for go-live status. Once regulation and compliance are confirmed, your application will be added to our Live Directory.

    • Once everything is confirmed, we will provide access to your live control panel, where you can configure your access and live certificates;
    • At this stage, it’s highly recommended that you conduct thorough testing to ensure your platform is fully prepared and ready to go. This step is a crucial launch. For a successful
    • You are now ready to go live.
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