Swiss-based clients with several accounts at different banks will soon be able to manage their accounts from one app.
The Federal Council wants Swiss financial companies to make data available to third-party providers by opening up their interfaces and has instructed the Federal Department of Finance to impose measures against institutions which fail to do so by June 2024, it said in a statement Friday.
Open finance means allowing financial data to be exchanged via standardized and secure data interfaces at the request of clients.
Legal Obligation
Until now, unlike in the United Kingdom or EU member states, there has been no legal obligation in Switzerland for financial institutions to make financial data available to third-party providers at their clients' request.
Now, the Swiss government has decided to promote open finance as a way of strengthening the digital self-determination of clients and to promote innovation and competition in the Swiss financial centre, while sticking to its market-driven approach, the statement said.
Infrastructure
The Swiss stock exchange operator SIX Group, already allows financial parties to exchange data via its «bLink» platform and is likely to benefit from the federal council's heightened focus on the area.
«In the coming year, we will see more banks going live with open finance offerings via bLink, benefiting fintechs, the banks among themselves, and ultimately, of course, the end customers.» co-head of connectivity & data and product lead of «bLink,» Sven Siat told finews.com.
Promising Projects
«Promising projects have been launched in areas such as retirement provision, portfolio management, payment transactions and multibanking. However, more concrete progress and greater commitment are needed with regard to the opening up of data interfaces,» the statement by the federal council added.
Moreover, opening interfaces would also mean that financial data could be automatically combined with other data to calculate a carbon footprint, for example.
