The Hypothekarbank Lenzburg (HBL) – one of the founding members of SFTI and a driving force behind the SFTI working group Swiss Open Finance API – announced yesterday that it has expanded its core banking system Finstar® into an open-banking platform. This solution was implemented in close collaboration with the fintech startup NDGIT. As a result, Finstar becomes an open banking platform, and HBL makes its data and services to do with accounts, deposits and other banking processes available for Fintech services.
SFTI is working on a uniform Swiss API standard with a distinct focus on banks and insurance companies. In this context, HBL and NDGIT will provide their solution as a so-called sandbox to the SFTI Swiss Open Finance API working group. This sandbox may be envisioned as a kind of generally accessible test system, consisting of Finstar and the API gateway.
Based on this environment, a first reference implementation of the jointly developed API standard will be implemented. This sandbox will then be made available to SFTI members, but it should also be accessible for use by other companies. The resulting experience is intended to make the IT platforms of banks and insurance companies more flexible with this cross-sectoral technical standard, thus making them fit for the challenges of the future.