‘Open banking’ can help banks compete 

Open banking enables financial services commercial customers to share their financial data securely with banks and third parties, making it possible to easily transfer funds, compare products and manage accounts using application program interfaces (APIs).
According to the study by global professional services company Accenture, 90 per cent of large banks in Asia Pacific said they plan to provide open banking services for their commercial clients, and half (50 per cent) of the regional banks expect the service will help them grow their revenues by up to 10 per cent. Another one-third (33 per cent) expect it will help them grow their revenues by up to 20 per cent.
The report, “Opening Up Commercial Banking, The Brave New World Of Open Banking in APAC”, is based on a global survey of more than 750 executives at global banks, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and large corporations.
Among other key findings: Commercial bank customers in Thailand often want the same thing other bank customers want – more-innovative processes and a better customer experience – which open banking can facilitate. When asked to identify the most significant benefit of using an open banking ecosystem platform, respondents most often identified reducing complexity and implementation costs for bank connectivity, which was cited by 28 per cent of executives at large corporations and SMEs.
Commercial bank customers in the country also expect open banking to optimise efficiency of SME and corporate processes (cited by 25 per cent of large corporations and SMEs) and gain access to convenient and innovative banking services (cited by 20 per cent of large corporations and SMEs).
When asked to identify the business areas that could be most improved in partnership with their bank through open banking, respondents at Thai SMEs cited payments, invoicing and matching, integration with accounting packages and lending, while large corporations said finance, treasury management and payments. 
“The range of open banking services that are important to SMEs and corporates in Thailand span many different areas – it’s |all-encompassing in terms of their interest,” said Graham Rothwell, a managing director at Accenture and Asia Pacific payments lead.
“It’s time for the industry to work collaboratively to develop an open banking framework and agree on common standards,” said Rothwell, “because by having that framework in place, banks and fintechs will be able to partner more effectively, and the whole system will be more efficient, benefiting all parties involved.”
As well, “banks in Thailand have a huge untapped opportunity because of their level of trust among corporate clients and the wide range of services that are important to SMEs and large businesses alike looking for open banking solutions,” said Graham.