Paris, 27th March 2019 – While 41% of European banks do not comply with requirements imposed by PSD2 (the second European Payment Services Directive*), today, Sopra Banking Software, a global leader in digital banking and financing software, announces that it has successfully supported 7 banking groups in 15 countries with this first step towards compliance.
The regulatory deadline for documenting API standards* enabling fintechs and other trusted third parties to access banks’ payment accounts, other than by screen scraping* from their website, was 14th March 2019.
A further objective was to make available test environments called “sandboxes” so that fintechs can start to experiment on access points APIs and test data implemented by banks.
Thanks to its Digital eXperience Platform (DxP), Sopra Banking Software has helped to commission the regulatory “sandboxes” in 7 banking groups in 15 countries, thus respecting this first step in compliance in various European countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands and Belgium).
This first step was essential for banks to be operational on 14th September, the deadline for compliance towards the new European directive.
*PSD2:
PSD2 obliges banks to provide third parties (including payment service initiators and account information providers (aggregators) with access to their customers’ data, with their consent. Furthermore, PSD2 guarantees greater payment security on the European market and means banks can offer banking services compatible with new technologies based on APIs.
*Screen scrapping:
The current technique, called screen scraping, is based on the user disclosing their login details and password to access their accounts online. This technique is deemed to be dangerous in terms of data protection and less secure than using APIs.
*API:
An API (Application Program Interface) comes with a code documentation. The documentation explains how the code works and how to contribute to the project. The documentation is very important in order to properly integrate an API from another platform.
About Sopra Banking Software
With 4 300 experts, a pro forma turnover 2018 of € 373,7 million and one of the deepest, broadest portfolios of software and services, Sopra Banking Software is a trusted, long-term partner of over 800 banks in more than 70 countries. Sopra Banking Software has an unequalled ability to address the requirements for banks and financial institutions of any size and scope, allowing them to innovate and expand their services. Sopra Banking Software is a subsidiary of the Sopra Steria Group, a European leader in digital transformation, with more than 44 000 employees. In 2018, Sopra Steria generated a revenue of €4,1 billion. For more information follow us on twitter @SopraBanking or visit www.soprabanking.com
Press contacts
Sopra Banking Software: Coralie GHNASSIA, +33 (0)6 77 04 66 25, [email protected]
Burson Cohn & Wolfe (BCW): Thibaut SALVES, +33 (0)6 26 39 83 71, [email protected]