The Russian FinTech Association has signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Financial Data and Technology Association (FDATA), a major international alliance. The FinTech Association has also expanded the geographical scope of its international partnership. Prior to that, its international partners included four FinTech associations and professional associations in Singapore, Japan, Luxembourg and Kazakhstan. 

FDATA is a global organization for companies working in the Open Finance sector. It was founded in London in 2014 with the primary goal of cooperating with the UK Government on the Payment Services Directive (PSD) 2 and developing Open Banking. Subsequently, FDATA expanded its scope of activity to include the promotion of technical standards for Open Banking operations across the world. Currently, the association has branches in Europe, Canada, the United States, Mexico, Australia and India. It is actively collaborating with international financial institutions. 

As part of the agreement, the FinTech Association and FDATA will share best practice on the development and implementation of the latest financial technology, particularly OpenAPI, as well as research and analytical materials. Both sides are studying key trends on the global FinTech market and are involved in creating unique digital products. 

“We’re pleased to be working with the Russian FinTech Association to advance the possibilities which Open Finance presents to the Russian market. Open Finance has the potential to develop market conditions by changing regulation, the obligations and rights surrounding data, and also technology, which will allow Russian consumers and businesses to safely exchange information to improve their financial results. 

“Financial technology allows us to harness these possibilities to create genuine innovation and improve client experience. Considering Russia’s clear strengths in the field of technology and data science, we at FDATA are sure that the development of the Open Finance sector will give Russians a big advantage. And we’re ready to share international best practice in this field,” said Gavin Littlejohn, Chairman at FDATA Global. 

“Through the FinTech Association platform, an OpenAPI framework has been developed,” which will be approved by the FinTech Association’s Advisory Board in summer 2019. The framework has been sent for consideration by the Bank of Russia. Additionally, together with participants in the Russian financial market, OpenAPI standards have been developed which will be sent to Technical Committee 122 for discussion. As a next step, we propose testing technology using real-life cases from banks and FinTech companies. Using OpenAPI allows us to significantly reduce costs when releasing and developing new products, which will ensure competition thrives on the financial market. We’re sure that cooperation with FDATA Global will yield good results and that best practice exchange in this field will be of mutual benefit to both parties,” said Tatiana Zharkova, Managing Director at FinTech Association. 

Source: Vedomosti