Norwegian bank group SpareBank 1 announces it has selected Nets to provide its open banking infrastructure. The group of 14 savings banks will implement Nets Access to Account Services (NAAS) - a single platform that enables access to banks across the Nordics and Europe.

The revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2), which comes into effect in September, will facilitate new digital banking services and enable better overviews of consumers’ finances. Nets’ single integration solution will give all the banks in the SpareBank 1 alliance access to all bank accounts in Norway and beyond for payment initiation and account information through a single application programming interface (API). This will enable the banks to develop innovative new services for their customers.

Kristine Ursfjord, Open Banking Product Owner, SpareBank 1, says: “We have chosen Nets as a strategic partner to ensure we can leverage all the opportunities that PSD2 presents. By using the Nets Access to Account Services, we will be able to easily access accounts in other banks, both in Norway and abroad. By doing so, we can develop and offer even better products and services for the customers of all banks in the SpareBank 1 alliance.”

Georg Olav Ramstad, Head of Open Banking Sales, Nets comments: “We are very happy that SpareBank 1 has chosen Nets as its strategic partner for open banking. Our NAAS platform will give the members of the SpareBank 1 group an important tool for maximising their open banking functionality and developing innovative new products and services for consumers.”

When PSD2 comes into effect on 14^th September 2019, consumers will have more opportunities to access their own financial data and share it with service providers of their choosing. Banks and Third-Party Providers (TPPs) will be able to retrieve information from different sources and present consumers’ financial information in a more understandable and informative way.

Ramstad adds: “Banks have a competitive advantage compared to many other players, since they already have an overview of customers’ financial history and health, including information that the PSD2 legislation does not require them to enable TPP access to, and this information is often highly detailed. Banks are also able to leverage consumer trust and their large customer bases.”