Technology and banking: a new collaborative ecosystem discussed at EfmaLIVE

2 min reading
10 December 2020
Technology and banking: a new collaborative ecosystem discussed at EfmaLIVE
Technology and banking: a new collaborative ecosystem discussed at EfmaLIVE

BBVA API Market

On the occasion of the EfmaLIVE conference on November 9-13, BBVA joined a discussion table on the future of partnerships between the banking and financial sector and BigTech companies.

The starting point for the conversation was payments as the gateway of the technology industry to the banking universe, and an assessment of how this collaborative process has developed both in the East and in the West. In both regions, we have seen how companies like Alibaba, Tencent, Google or Apple have entered the financial landscape thanks to payment platforms with hundreds of millions of users in record times. These systems have enjoyed great acceptance by the general public and are not only a tremendously useful means of payment in online retail, but more and more establishments accept systems such as Alipay.

Financing was the natural next step and Google, Apple and Amazon have reached various agreements with banks to give all types of businesses the ability to provide financing to their customers digitally, quickly and effectively.

It is precisely this collaboration between technology and banking companies that marks the future of this relationship. The present, shaped by the COVID-19 crisis, has seen the increase in demand for digital means of payment such as PayPal, due to increased consumption in online stores that, for the most part, accept this form of payment.

This development is the result of changes in consumer behavior, which have been happening for some time now. Collaborative ecosystems are the best setting for this, and that is where banking services need to be, through partnerships with technology companies that allow greater proximity to users wherever they need it, with intuitive user interfaces that truly respond to consumer demands.

Open banking, and regulations like PSD2, was the impetus needed for the banking universe to open its services and infrastructure to third parties and come up with a new business model in which collaboration is the foundation on which better, more personalized and more accessible products are based.

A good example of this is the case of Uber and BBVA, which was also addressed by the panel. Together, they have created a platform, using BBVA API_Market APIs, in which drivers can create their own digital account. There, Uber will deposit their earnings, and drivers can check their balance and activity and have an associated debit card with which to enjoy attractive advantages when using it at different establishments (gas stations, repair shops, etc.). It’s a perfect use case where we see how banking gets its products to an audience that needs them, the way it needs them, and with the features it requires.

This type of collaboration generates value-added proposals for users and considers, first and foremost, the needs of customers to be able to solve them in a realistic and practical way.

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