Internal organisational complexity, supplier networks and legacy IT systems are some of the major challenges facing corporates in their quest to manage B2B data sharing, according to a white paper published by the Euro Banking Association (EBA). The EBA's Open Banking Working Group (OBWG) published the thought leadership paper on B2B Data Sharing: digital consent management as a driver for data opportunities.

While data sharing can help banks to increase efficiencies, lower risks and contribute to service innovation, the EBA paper highlights some of the pain points for corporates of B2B financial data sharing, which include managing the complexity of internal organisation and the rigidity of legacy systems and organisation.

It states that the main challenge for corporates is managing the complexity of the internal organisation and the extensive network of partners and suppliers. Legacy IT infrastructure that was developed decades ago and is outdated but still vital to critical components of the business is also a major challenge. The EBA paper says that corporates need to simplify and harmonise these systems as the organisation grows and extends its network of partners over time.

Connecting data flows

The EBA's paper adds: “Furthermore, corporate legacy systems require particular data formats to be used and the specific way in which processes and reporting is organised internally means standard procedures need to be followed. This is problematic when it comes to interacting with (SME) partners and suppliers on which corporates strongly rely for production and daily operations. These partners and suppliers may use various forms of software tools for commerce activities and may not always be equipped to conform to the corporate’s specifications and way of interacting.”

It also says that corporates would strongly benefit from services that streamline data flows across processes that are currently distributed across departments and possibly even geographical locations. It adds: “Connecting these data flows and processes requires advanced software packages that are deeply integrated in the corporate systems and ideally accessible to the network of suppliers and partners as well. Propositions developed on top of data flows could provide much needed insight into operations and access to better (financial) service offerings.”

Availability, access, analytics

The paper builds on what the EBA calls the 'triple A model' (availability, access, analytics), developed in its previous publication, and takes a closer look at the end-to-end trade process, analyses the B2B platform landscape and discusses the possibilities of digital consent management in the B2B space.

Chair of the EBA's OBWG, Vincent Brennan, commented: “Our analysis confirms that in order to truly drive innovative data propositions, digital consent management and a standardisation of data exchange are required. This will support secure and controlled accessibility of data at scale and with explicit consent given by the data owners, enabling banks and other service providers to address the emerging needs of business customers.”