Open banking: meeting individual needs

Open banking is already improving consumers’ access to their financial data, but we’ve only just scratched the surface. As Europe faces uncertain economic times, it’s never been more important for banks to get to know their customers. The arrival of open banking technologies has given them a unique opportunity to support their customers and provide tailored financial coaching to help them manage their money.

Going beyond the basics with open banking

As many consumers have their current accounts, investment accounts and credit cards with different providers, it’s hard to get a holistic view of their incomings and outgoings across accounts. With open banking, banks can provide their customers with a real-time, up-to-date picture of their finances in one place. In short, tailored financial solutions powered by open banking helps banks coach the individual, not the account.

How banks can help their customers

Open banking can empower people to take control of their finances. Tink’s latest report¹  showed that consumers across Europe are calling for a better understanding of their financial lives. In the UK 41% of consumers said they want to learn more about managing their finances, whilst in Germany, 76% of consumers believe they need to have a clearer view of their incomings and outgoings. In France, 86% of people say the current economic environment highlights a need for closer monitoring of their accounts. These findings present a clear opportunity for banks to leverage data-driven technologies to give their customers a holistic view of their finances and enhance financial wellness.

By providing people with access to personalised financial advice and services, banks can support by building tools and services that better cater for their needs. Taking this opportunity to proactively engage with and get to know their customers better, banks are in a good position to then coach them through times of financial stress.

An opportunity to meet customer needs

According to Tink’s study²  a large proportion of customers across Europe aren’t yet using the powerful digital banking tools on offer. In the UK, 47% of people say they only use basic online banking tools, while in France, little over 30% of consumers use the budget management tools provided by banks. However, with the current economic climate it is clear consumers have an appetite for products, services and tools that help them improve their finances. In Germany, 28% of respondents would like their bank to provide them with the necessary tools to cope, with 44% agreeing they would use tools made available by their bank for budget administration.

In response, banks are taking the opportunity to step up their digital offering to support their customers, applying open banking enabled services and tools in various ways to personalise and improve the customer experience.

Read more