Bringing high-quality open banking to all of Europe

August 05, 2021 | Louise Basse

As we’ve built a successful open banking platform in the Nordics that processes millions of payments and billions of transactions every month, we’re now turning complexity into simplicity across Europe. 

We’ve expanded our open banking platform to the rest of Europe with the same mission as we’ve had in the Nordics – to create open banking that simply works.

Open banking without obstacles  

Despite legislative pressure and increasing customer demands, the road to open banking has not been straightforward. Legacy systems and misinterpretation of regulation have created obstacles that have made it difficult for businesses and consumers to take full advantage of open banking. 

To build truly innovative and personalised services with open banking in any market, you need an open banking platform that works in every aspect – and that’s easier said than done in a space that’s still struggling to comply with regulatory requirements. 

That’s why we decided to work with the industry from the very beginning. And we’re continuing to do so in our journey across Europe. But what does it actually mean to do that and why did we decide to take that approach to open banking? 

Put simply, we’ve always focused on three guiding principles to create an open banking platform that’s second-to-none:  

Quality over quantity: We took an early decision to work with the industry to make sure we generate quality connections in a market before we actually say we're live in a market. That's why we call ourselves craftsmen of open banking. 

Privacy by design: A principle that makes sure financial data is never shared or used in unintentional ways. With Aiia, there’s simply no way of not respecting privacy because it’s a fundamental element in the platform we’ve built. 

Secure and compliant: Strongly linked to our privacy by design model, being secure and compliant is a testament to the effort we’ve put into analysing and interpreting regulation in different markets. 

Emphasising the importance of creating actual value with open banking, our CEO and Co-founder, Rune Mai, says: 

“Our platform differs by focusing on important building principles to create an open banking experience that’s second-to-none. With our heavy focus on privacy, quality, security and compliance, we have built a platform that truly makes open banking innovation flourish across Europe. We’ve done that by working closely with banks, local authorities and third parties to ensure a stable connection between payments, data and the services leveraging these opportunities.”

Connecting to 336 million people across Europe 

As we’ve expanded our open banking platform across the continent, Aiia empowers millions of users to perform frictionless payments and utilise the power of financial data in the services they love. 

One of Aiia’s new customers in the Netherlands is the accounting software provider Tellow. They’re on a mission to create more freedom for micro businesses and those self-employed by using financial data. With Aiia, Tellow has been able to create an app that takes care of everything from automated bookkeeping to financial forecasting and expense streams, as well as providing an overall estimate of the financial health of the businesses.

Commenting on the partnership, René Hesselink, Tellow’s Product Owner, says: 

“Our partnership with Aiia allows our users to be confident, educated and in control of their finances, so they can focus on core business activities. When smaller businesses have a clear understanding of the financial health of their business, it allows them to build and grow with ease, flexibility and confidence. That in turn creates a stronger economic environment for all.”

With our expansion in place, we invite any business from any industry with any use case to switch on open banking that simply works.  

Feel free to reach out to our team to learn more about how your business can leverage open banking or visit our open banking blog to see more inspirational use cases with businesses that have already partnered with Aiia.