A strategic agreement for the provision of advanced Open Banking services and applications in Italy and Europe, has been signed by CRIF, a global company specialized in credit information systems (SIC), business information and credit solutions, and SIA, a European hi-tech company which is leader in services and payment infrastructures and is controlled by CDP Equity.
The aim of the agreement is to accelerate the innovation process of banks, corporates and fintechs in the new digital scenario as a result also of the innovations that have been introduced on the market by PSD2, and in particular the access to customer's bank account data - subject to authorisation - and the provision of payment orders allowed to qualified third parties.
Specifically, the agreement between CRIF and SIA provides for the integration of the respective digital offers and will concern the end-to-end management of the user experience, fully exploiting the opportunities offered by Open Banking, as well as the possibility of managing the personal finances of the customers through advanced Personal and Business Finance Management (PFM and BFM) solutions.
As Crif has explained, it will be possible for example to make a purchase, both on traditional and digital channels, through the Payment Initiation (PIS) service, i.e. by initiating the payment operation from the bank account chosen by the customer, as a complement to other tools currently used such as credit cards and digital wallets.
Furthermore, it will be easier for families and businesses to take out a loan through a completely digital experience, thanks to a more complete and updated data set that will simplify the access to credit for individuals and businesses.
In addition to providing the Italian and European market with an ecosystem of value-added services accessible from a single marketplace and through APIs, CRIF and SIA also aim at developing new use cases and collaboration models among financial, corporate and fintech institutions.
“We are delighted to announce this partnership with a global champion like SIA. The complementarity of the two companies represents a great value that we want to deliver to our respective customers and their end customers, with the awareness that the acceleration that innovation has imparted to the market will allow us to enrich the integrated offer between the two partners over time, to support them towards the next levels with increasingly innovative and performing digital solutions", Carlo Gherardi, CEO of CRIF, has said (in the picture).
"The reliability of SIA's infrastructure and transactional services in connection with the payments and the quality of CRIF's information services, which characteristics are already appreciated and recognized in Italy and abroad, represent an excellent combination that allows us to compete in Europe by confirming our leadership in innovation and supporting the financial market in the development of new operating models offered by Open Banking", Nicola Cordone, CEO of SIA, has declared.
