I came across a particularly good podcast on Open Banking Expo.

Open Banking Expo’s Ellie Duncan is joined by Chris Michael, CEO and co-founder of Ozone API, and Huw Davies, chief commercial officer and co-founder of Ozone API, to explain how their industry experience led them to establish the company, along with CTO Freddi Gyara

Ozone API have recently rebranded and the discussion provided context. The discussion was especially relevant for me and provided high level coverage of the #openbanking ecosystem. At the moment.

To summarise the international state:

• UK model was prescriptive, akin to punishment and with little freedom. As I blogged earlier its roots lay in the 2008 Banking crisis and the British Government work to provide stability.
• Saudi Vision 2030 – collaborative banks can see benefit and are provided incentives that incorporate customer benefit which in turn provided new opportunities for banks
• Canada – best in what everyone has done. Ed except for EQ Bank not much movement yet
• Huge investment – UK was first then euro zone, now Saudi and South America
• Ozone re branding – early days. Were API focussed but now more focused on customer
  

Relevance to Bankwatch

I like what I heard today ad will dig deeper on Ozone API.

Podcast Summary

Open Banking Expo’s Ellie Duncan is joined by Chris Michael, CEO and co-founder of Ozone API, and Huw Davies, chief commercial officer and co-founder of Ozone API, to explain how their industry experience led them to establish the company, along with CTO Freddi Gyara, and why it was the right time to rebrand towards the end of 2022. Given that they were behind the creation of the UK’s Open Banking Standard, Huw and Chris also reveal how they’ve applied their learnings from the UK to other countries, like Saudi Arabia, which has just launched its own Open Banking Framework and what excites them most about Open Banking in the MENA region more widely. Finally, they offer up their predictions for how far away the UK is from Open Finance, as its roadmap nears the end.

Chris Michael, CEO and co-founder of Ozone API

Huw Davies, chief commercial officer and co-founder of Ozone API

Freddi Gyara, CTO

UK’s Open Banking Standard, Huw and Chris