Mastercard has announced the launch of Open Banking Solutions, a suite of four applications and services to support financial institutions (FIs) and third-party providers (TPPs) in the new post-Payment Services Directive (PSD2) era of open banking.

The new offerings focus on four areas: connectivity, security and compliance, dispute resolution and consulting services. The new service will initially be offered in the UK and Poland and several payment and financial service partners have already signed up, including Alior Bank, Kikapay, Striva, the newly-launched Tribe Payments and mobile payment app provider DiPocket.

Mastercard says that the goal is to build a suite of innovative open banking services – offering relevant standards, clarity and consistency – that FIs and TPPs can use in developing their own banking strategies.

The four offerings

Open Banking Connect aids scalability and speed to market by providing a single connection to FIs’ open banking functionality, while Open Banking Resolve is a centralised dispute resolution service.

Open Banking Protect combats exposure to liability and fraud via real-time verification of TPP registration status, along with monitoring and alerts. FIs can also get advice and support from Open Banking Consulting Services.

“As FIs and TPPs across Europe and beyond look at how they can capitalise on open banking to grow their business while better serving their customers, the need for trusted partners with international reach and specialisation in security and payments technology is obvious,” said Jim Wadsworth, SVP for open banking at Mastercard.

Supporting research from Ovum suggests that delivering on the promise of open banking will require market participants to cooperate in three areas: developing standardised mechanisms by which banks and TPPs interact; establishing ecosystem-appropriate measures to minimise fraud exposure; and providing clarity and consistency on managing enquiries and resolving disputes