Ernst & Young has finalised arrangements with Open Banking Nigeria to campaign for and develop a standard application programming interface (API) for the country’s financial services industry.

The partnership will also work towards transforming the management of financial data and extend services to individuals and businesses across Nigeria.

“With this agreement, EY joins other leading industry stakeholders to analyse the need of the industry for a common API standard among banks and other financial institutions, support the development of API standards, promote adoption with stakeholders—players and regulators—and enable further innovations in Nigeria’s financial services industry,” the group announced

“The introduction of a unified API across financial institutions creates a foundation upon which data can be effortlessly accessed and securely shared, real-time. It would, among others, empower individual and corporate users of services within the payment ecosystem to instruct their service providers to share their bank balance and transaction information with regulated account information service providers (AISPs).

“This interoperability would result in the development of modern payment services, cost savings for operators and increased innovation while also guaranteeing information security and privacy, which would not cause an uneven playing field for industry players.”

Based in Lagos, Open Banking Nigeria was established two years ago as a not-for-profit initiative to create non-partisan API standards for Nigeria’s financial services.

Multiple benefits

“As part of our commitment to support the building of a better working world, EY Nigeria is working with stakeholders to use open banking to reshape financial services, especially as regulators and governments seek to increase competition and choice,” commented Dapo Adewole, technology advisory partner at EY.

“We understand that customers also expect more convenience and flexible access to services, driven by broader digital experience and emerging technology. It is our desire to bring this goal to fruition, while working with other player in the industry.”

Welcoming EY Nigeria, Ope Adeoye, a trustee at Open Banking Nigeria, said the firm’s top-notch contributions, along with other stakeholders, would lead to the development of the next generation of API standard for the Nigerian financial services industry.

Both partners state that already acknowledged as the future of banking on the globe, the adoption of open banking in Nigeria promises to enhance the service offerings of players in the financial services industry, improve customer engagement and build new digital revenue channels.

Its impact will extend to transforming the operations of other industries, including telecommunications, power, hospitality, retail, and insurance, seeking to leverage data for the improvement of their operational scope and service offerings to clients.