Swisscom info and facts
Berne, 6 November 2017
The Swisscom Open Banking Hub is being used for the first time to support the cooperation between Baloise Bank SoBa and RegTech start-up Apiax. For banks and their customer advisors, ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements at all times is a major challenge, particularly when customers are from outside Switzerland. Apiax's cross-border solution supports customer advisors by automatically checking which banking products can be offered to specific customers on the basis of a digital rule set. The Apiax solution can be used as a mobile app or connected to the bank's systems over an application programming interface (API for short).
If Baloise Bank SoBa wanted to use services of other FinTech companies or other third parties, additional interfaces would have to be set up. This complicates the entire system and results in high initial and operating costs. Instead of requiring a new interface for each additional connection, Swisscom's Open Banking Hub offers every market player access to all available APIs on the hub through a single connection.
The Swisscom Open Banking Hub runs on the API gateway solution of CA Technologies. The API hub operates on two levels: the API Sandbox gives financial services providers a simple and no-obligation opportunity to try out new applications of third parties who are already connected to the Open Banking Hub. Productive use of the third-party solutions is possible via the Hub within the secure bank IT infrastructure on which Swisscom already operates the core banking systems of around 80 financial services providers and which meets the most stringent compliance and security requirements. This is another advantage of connecting via the Swisscom Hub because meeting the stringent compliance requirements of the banks is a major challenge for third parties, especially FinTech companies.
Baloise Bank SoBa is a bank based in the Swiss canton of Solothurn with branches throughout Switzerland. In partnership with Basler Versicherungen, it operates as a focused financial services provider for the whole of Switzerland, offering a combination of insurance and banking services. In Switzerland, Baloise Bank SoBa and Basler Versicherungen are leading providers of custom solutions for insurance, pensions, property financing and asset management for private and corporate customers. Basler Versicherungen and Baloise Bank SoBa are part of the Basel-based Baloise Group. Bâloise Holding Ltd shares are listed on SIX Swiss Exchange, Main Market Segment. The Baloise Group employs 7,400 people within Europe, including 3,300 in Switzerland.
Apiax is a Swiss RegTech start-up which combines legal and compliance expertise with state-of-the-art technology to support customers with the digital management of regulations. On the Apiax platform, complex financial regulations – cross-border for example – are transformed into digital rules and are continually updated and verified by experts. A regulatory cockpit allows legal and compliance departments to digitally review and adapt to regulatory changes. These digital rules can be accessed through an app, easily provided over an API and integrated in existing applications and processes. During the start-up phase, Apiax was supported by the F10 Accelerator programme, which came to a successful conclusion in April 2017. Since September 2017, Apiax has also been a participant in the Swisscom-sponsored Kickstart Accelerator programme in Zurich. Visit www.apiax.com to find out more.
CA Technologies (NASDAQ: CA) develops software that fuels digital transformation and allows companies to leverage the potential offered by the application economy. Software is the cornerstone of every company in every sector. From planning and development through to management and security services, CA partners with companies the world over, helping them transform the way they interact and communicate, whether through mobile technology, in the private or public cloud or the mainframe environment. Visit www.ca.com to find out more.