FINASTRA
“ Open is the critical word here – the world of finance has changed and the emphasis is on connectivity , co-innovation and being part of an ecosystem to succeed ”
RUSS SOPER CIO , FINASTRA
The journey to Open Finance So , how does a technology company stay ahead of the curve in a sector that is innovating and transforming at dramatic speed ? The key , Soper believes , is a combination of expertise , innovation and collaborating with partners . Soper is proud of Finastra ’ s vision – that the future of finance is open – and the bold moves that it makes to bring innovation , collaboration and growth to its customers through its technology and its culture .
He says , “ Ultimately , we provide a complete range of Financial Services solutions to customers around the world , ranging from Tier 1 multi-national institutions to local community banks and credit unions . Our mission is to unlock the potential of people , businesses and communities by empowering financial institutions and opening up the world of Financial Services . Open is the critical word here – the world of finance has changed and the emphasis is on connectivity , co-innovation and being part of an ecosystem to succeed .”
Finastra is the world ’ s largest pure play Financial Services software company with over 8,600 customers and its solutions are used by 90 of the world ’ s top 100 banks . As an entity , it is responsible for 8 % of global FX trading , 6 % of daily trade finance and 25 % of all US wire payments .
“ Open Finance is the only way ,” continues Soper . “ 95 % of innovation is likely happening outside of your company walls . The scale and speed of it means it ’ s impossible to ‘ own ’ it all in-house . Think of the time spent developing an app based on machine learning , or a new wealthmanagement tool . You could spend a year building and testing , and millions branding and launching , or you could collaborate and plug-in or co-develop with a fintech partner . Collaboration is the solution - which means being open . Open platform , open APIs , open standards , open ecosystems – open banking was just the start of the movement and it ’ s exciting to see our mission coming to life ,” Soper says . He goes on to give three examples of how Finastra is championing Open Finance :
1 . First , through its core systems , which are designed to be enhanced and built upon through open APIs .
2 . Secondly , through its open marketplaces – such as ICC TRADECOMM , an SME trade finance marketplace built in partnership with the ICC , designed to solve the SME funding gap by attracting alternative lenders .
3 . And finally , through its open developer platform FusionFabric . cloud , which is home to around 200 fintechs and hundreds of APIs … and is growing every day .
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