Open Banking Nigeria
Nigerian banks have become leaders within the digital finance space in Africa within the last 10 years. While many reference M-Pesa as an example of mobile money innovation in Africa that Nigeria is yet to completely pull off, it can be stated that Nigerian banks currently offer more than what M-Pesa or other mobile money schemes can offer. This explains the lack of traction for non-bank led mobile schemes in Africa’s most populous nation.
Nevertheless, as Nigerian banks constantly outdo each other in the digital channel space, is it possible to infer that time is ripe for these financial organisations to adopt API led banking, the next phase of banking innovation currently transforming financial space worldwide?
API led banking is unlike any of the current digital channels banks are currently serving customers with. Unlike ATM, mobile, web, and cards, banks have significant opportunities to scale their services into the nooks and crannies they could previously dream off. For example, enabling that fridge to order for groceries, make payments for it, and have it get delivered, or create a nifty savings app that rounds up balances across different bank accounts to get the best rate. These exciting services also come at great risk as well: it allows fintechs and competitor banks to bid for the same end customers.
Open Banking Nigeria has taken a critical look at this scenario, in the report below. The report gives an overview of the inception and progress of API banking and a lot of yet to be recorded successes can be achieved with Open Banking.
