Alex: Hi everybody. Welcome to another episode of the Curiosity Podcast. Today we're joined by Chris, a true innovator in open banking and fintech. As the co-founder and co-CEO of his own API, Chris is at the forefront of enabling seamless collaboration between banks, fintech, and regulators through open APIs. He played a pivotal role in creating the UK open banking standard, shaping the framework that has transformed how financial services operate. With his background in agile methodologies, scalable tech, and user-centered design, Chris has been instrumental in making fintech more accessible and innovative for businesses and consumers alike. Chris, we're so excited to have you here. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about Ozone API and the mission behind it?

Chris: Sure. Thanks, Alex. Great to be on this podcast today. At Ozone, we do two things. Our core business is providing open API technology, typically as a SaaS model, for banks and financial institutions worldwide. This helps them meet regulatory and commercial requirements for open banking and open finance. We enable them to expose APIs aligned with the relevant standards in their market and turn those APIs into secure, feature-rich commercial channels to improve fintech services for their customers.

Chris: The second aspect of our business is helping regulators and standards bodies develop open banking and open finance frameworks globally. We also provide central technology for regulators and central banks to roll out open banking and finance at scale, reducing costs and speeding up implementation in various markets.

Alex: Yeah, thank you. That's impressive. Open banking has transformed how financial institutions collaborate with third parties, at least in Europe. We're a bit behind in the US. From your experience, what are the biggest challenges banks face when adopting OpenAPI, and how do you at Ozone API help them overcome these challenges?

Chris: It depends on how you define open banking. You could argue it has been around in the US for over 20 years through fintechs connecting to banks via screen scraping and credential sharing, but that model has obvious security issues. What we developed in the UK was a higher bar, focusing on security and consent management to ensure that fintechs only access data or services customers explicitly consent to. This standard was aligned with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) order in the UK and PSD2 regulations in Europe.

Chris: The challenge for banks is that they must comply with these specific API standards within tight regulatory timelines. At Ozone API, we provide out-of-the-box technology that simplifies compliance, including security, consent management, and reporting. We take on the complexity so banks don’t have to reinvent the wheel, helping them implement standards faster and more efficiently.

Alex: Great. Based on your experience, what are the most common use cases where fintech companies leverage open banking?

Chris: Use cases vary across retail customers, small businesses, and corporations. For retail, basic account aggregation was a starting point, but extending this to include all financial products, like credit cards, savings accounts, and pensions, creates a full view of finances, which is incredibly powerful. For businesses, open banking enables seamless integration with cloud accounting packages for real-time reconciliation.

Chris: Another major use case is lending. Open banking allows real-time proof of income and expenditure, which reduces risk and costs for lenders while improving access to credit for individuals and businesses. This can include ongoing connections to adapt credit products to customers' changing needs. Payments are another area, with open banking being used for secure, automated transactions like tax payments and variable recurring payments for services like phone bills or subscriptions.

Chris: For instance, in the UK, people pay their taxes through open banking. The HMRC website integrates with fintechs like EcoSpend to automate payments, reducing errors and increasing security. Customers don’t have to manually input amounts or reference numbers, which creates a seamless experience. Looking forward, variable recurring payments will enable ongoing, flexible, and secure payment models for services like Uber or subscriptions.

Alex: Chris, I’m mindful of the time. Do you see similar technologies being adopted in the US, and how is Ozone API involved in that market?

Chris: Yes, open banking is coming to the US. Regulations were finalized recently, with timelines set for a transition to API-based systems using the FDX standard. This will remove screen scraping and create a standards-based approach that benefits customers, fintechs, and the financial services industry. Ozone API supports standards like FDX and operates globally, so we’re very much part of this journey in the US as well.

Alex: Awesome, good luck with that. Chris, thank you very much for being part of this episode. It’s been really insightful for our audience. See you next time.

Chris: Fantastic. Thank you very much. Great to meet you.

Alex: Thanks, guys. Bye.