KPMG, Open Technology Foundation Collaborate, for Improved Financial Services
KPMG, a professional services company and one of the Big Four auditors in the world, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Open Technology Foundation (OTF), to promote a standard Application Programming Interface (API) for in the financial services sector in Nigeria, with the primary objective of consistently providing consumers of financial services with access to the qualitative services and solutions they require real-time.
As a result of this agreement, the two organisations would actively collaborate to educate stakeholders within the ecosystem, engender the growth of new revenue streams for industry players and develop a sustainable service model for underserved markets. They would achieve these through advocacy for the development and adoption of an API standard for banking and financial services industries. The adoption of an API standard is, more so, imperative as data-sharing—accomplished through such means—is an intelligent conduit for data flow between systems in a controlled yet seamless manner.
The agreement is in line with the commitment of Open Technology Foundation, the not-for-profit organisation driving the development and adoption of Open API standard in Nigeria, to promote the adoption of Open Banking standard with stakeholders across Nigeria and enable further innovation in the financial services industry.
Speaking on the agreement, KPMG’s Partner, Boye Ademola said: “We have undertaken this collaboration with Open Technology Foundation Nigeria in continuation of our desire to contribute meaningfully to the development of new banking business models in the country, founded on digital capabilities, agile ways of working and resilient platforms.”
With the understanding that Open Banking has the ability to transform the market for banking providers and consumers across the value chain, Ope Adeoye, a trustee of Open Banking Nigeria, noted that KPMG, through the collaboration for the launch of the first standard and non-proprietary Open Banking standard in Africa, has again reinforced their positions as leading lights for digital financial transformation in Africa.
“We are indeed delighted to have KPMG on board this journey that is set to completely redefine the future of financial services on the continent,” Adeoye said.
Open Technology Foundation works with banks, regulators, fintechs, and other stakeholders to define an open and non-partisan set of APIs for financial services in Nigeria.
OTF had previously collaborated with other industry stakeholders including Fidelity Bank, Flutterwave, Global Accelerex, Paystack, TeamApt, PwC, and Sterling Bank.
