Open Banking Tie-Ups Challenge SMB Banking Incumbents

PSD2 and open banking regulations were forged to accelerate competition in the financial services arena, and this week, a look at the latest initiatives reveals the opportunity for new market entrants to rival incumbents in the small business banking arena.

Below, PYMNTS rounds up the latest in bank-FinTech collaborations and open banking efforts from challenger bank Countingup, eMoney institution Eedenbull and others.

Payoneer Debuts Program For Banks

Cross-border payments technology company Payoneer debuted its Payoneer for Banks program last week, an initiative that provides financial institutions (FIs) and other service providers with infrastructure to send and receive global payments. In its announcement, Payoneer said 10 banks and eWallets across 10 countries have signed onto the program, which focuses on transaction security and lowering costs for FIs to provide global payment services integrated into the banking platform already in-use.

"By integrating with our APIs, banks can offer a seamless cross-border payments experience to their customers with low investment, which offers the potential for additional revenues, enriched offerings for customers and a competitive advantage," said Payoneer General Manager, SMBs Eyal Moldovan in a statement.

Countingup Teams Up On SMB Solutions

With a focus on small business banking, three FinTechs — Form3, Countingup and PPS — have forged a collaboration to tackle inefficiencies and friction points for joint SMB customers.

As a challenger bank, Countingup will wield cloud payment technology from Form3, as well as banking, issuing and processing technology from PPS, to challenge the industry incumbents.

"Banking and accounting for U.K. SMEs remains a highly concentrated industry, with the majority of business current accounts (BCAs) still provided by a small group of the largest banks," said Countingup Founder and CEO Tim Fouracre in a statement.

The companies added that their partnership represents a "new dynamic" in small business banking, which enables direct data integration with small businesses' back offices as well as access to real-time payments via the U.K. Faster Payments and BACS schemes.

Eedenbul Secures PSD2 License

In Norway, Eedenbull, a banking innovation FinTech, has announced that the Norwegian Financial Supervisory Authority has approved an extension to the company's E-Money Institution (EMI) license. Wielding PSD2, Eedenbull is now fully licensed as a Payment Initiation Services Provider (PISP) and Account Information Services Provider (AISP), which enables the company to access data and initiate payments from customer bank accounts throughout Europe.

"New technologies, new regulations like PSD2 and new players entering the payments space changes forever the way consumers and businesses think about payments," said the company's CEO Nicki Bisgaard in a statement. "At EedenBull, we’re not only embracing change, but [are] seeking to work with our partner banks to drive change and leverage the opportunities provided."

Salt Edge To Automate SMB Data Aggregation For Deskera

Business software solution provider Deskera has secured a partnership with open banking solutions company Salt Edge to augment its small business offerings in Singapore.

In a blog post, Salt Edge said it will enable one-click banking and reconciliation capabilities within Deskera to enhance its existing offerings of accounting, payroll, tax, financial documentation and other services for small companies in the country. Via the Salt Edge API, Deskera can aggregate data from more than 5,000 FIs to automate invoicing, taxes and other workflows for its SMBs.

"The last few months have been challenging for businesses, especially small and medium enterprises across the globe," the company wrote. "They are in a transformative phase with evolved financial needs. Going digital is the key to the success of these companies."