Background
Switzerland has a non-regulated open finance ecosystem. However, the Swiss Bankers Association (SBA) and its member financial institutions see a great opportunity in the possibilities offered by the opening of interfaces and cooperation between financial institutions and providers.
Financial institutions believe that a market-based open finance approach is the right way for the Swiss community to further develop existing offerings and continue to provide simple, secure, innovative and internationally competitive financial services. The financial institutions pre-empted regulation by coordinating efforts that utilise the following foundational principles:
The Swiss Federal Council is closely watching developments and is confident that a market-based approach can work. However, to ensure sufficient progress is made, they have instructed the Federal Department of Finance (FDF) to submit measures to them by June 2024 if the financial sector does not sufficiently commit to opening
up their interfaces.
Sven Siat
Head Connectivity and Product Lead for bLink at SIX
“In comparison with international regulatory-driven initiatives, the Swiss financial market is adapting to open banking much slower at first glance.
However, Swiss banks and industry associations have established a strong collaborative, market-driven approach that ensures a high degree of uniformity and quality, for example in the definition of joint API standards. The bLink platform, on the other hand, enables them to scale relevant open banking use cases efficiently in the market and to partner up with fintechs and other banks easily. After three years of establishing these conditions, we now finally see a significant adoption trend among Swiss banks and fintechs. Apart from regulation, which of course is also an ongoing topic in Switzerland, open banking will only be truly successful, if the market itself really believes in it and has the power to shape it proactively.”
