Open Banking technologies have changed how we think about financial services.

The integration of Open Banking capabilities has proven to be a key enabler for streamlined financial management, including vital accounting tasks like reconciliation. Third-party providers can access customer data via APIs to gain a more complete overview of each user’s financial health and behaviors.

Below are six of the top Open Banking use cases in different sectors:

 

1. Real-time data integration for accounting software vendors

Open Banking directly connects live financial data from various sources with accounting software.

For accounting software vendors, the real-time integration of data streamlines transaction tracking and reconciliation for their users. Vendors can offer clients a more efficient and accurate solution to access the most up-to-date accounts payable and receivable information securely.

Real-time data integration works via account aggregation, enabling users to consolidate all their bank account information into a single, centralized platform. Account aggregation providers like Powens simplify financial management and analysis by making this account data easily accessible, helping accounting teams save time and increase productivity.

For example, users of Dougs, a French online accounting firm leveraging Powens’ technology for data integration, now process 6 times more balance sheets per year than with traditional solutions.

Powens offers both data and document aggregation services that give you immediate access to information from checking and savings accounts, loans, pension plans, investments, and more.

Here’s what Dougs says about the benefits of using Powens’ Bank solution to simplify entrepreneurs’ accounting:

“Banking aggregation is at the heart of our business. Bank enables us to retrieve all the transactions we present in our application, and it is our basis for automating financial statements. By enriching the data retrieved with our algorithms, we facilitate the preparation of financial statements.” – Florent Galland, co-founder, Dougs.

 

👉 Read the full Open Banking use case by Dougs here.

 

2. Enhanced risk assessment for credit companies

Credit companies, such as Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) providers, use Open Banking to access real-time customer financial data. This data is then used for risk assessment and credit scoring processes, which determine whether a customer is eligible to receive a particular financial service.

Many BNPL customers opt in through a standard checkout page and receive an instant lending decision. As such, today’s shoppers have no patience for lengthy onboarding processes when using BNPL services. This makes real-time risk assessments essential for BNPL providers to meet customer expectations without compromising security or compliance.

Take the Open Banking use case of Finfrog, for example, a digital micro-lender that has transformed its credit assessment process with Powens’ Open Banking API. According to Riadh Alimi, Founder and CEO of Finfrog:

“Connecting to our customers’ bank accounts, thanks to the Powens API, is central to our scoring model. This enables us to obtain reliable, real-time, tamper-proof information and notify our loan decision to the customer in less than 24 hours.”

The results speak for themselves: 80% of Finfrog’s customers receive their funds within five minutes of approval — a huge achievement in the lending industry​​.

For BNPL providers navigating the new European credit regulations, such as those requiring robust creditworthiness checks, Powens’ solutions ensure compliance without slowing down processes. By integrating Open Banking and automated identity verification tools like Trust, companies can retrieve real-time financial data, automate document collection, and reduce fraud risks​.

 

👉 Read the full Finfrog Open Banking case study here.

 

3. Automated payment and risk solutions for property management software

Another great Open Banking use case are Property management companies who offer rent collection and reconciliation services. They can use Open Banking technologies to provide greater control over financial workflows.

Open Banking also enables third-party payment initiations on behalf of customers, allowing them to pay directly from their bank accounts with minimal disruption. Rent collection and reconciliation are simplified by streamlining payments to a single account and platform. By leveraging this technology, property management platforms working with Powens have helped their clients reduce unpaid rent rates by up to 30%, significantly improving collection and accounting processes.

In the case of Piloc, a property management solution using Powens’ Bank, Co-Founder & Co-CEO Julian Philips notes:

“Piloc offers real estate professionals a faster and simpler way to collect and track rent payments, and Powens quickly emerged as the right partner to create an engaging payment path for tenants.”

4. Personalized financial management

Open Banking technology enables personal financial management (PFM) tools to offer users real-time insights into their financial goals, including spending and saving. Using these technologies, PFMs can create accurate recommendations for how users can best reach their goals.

For example, with real-time spending data, a PFM could notify users immediately when they exceed their spending limits. Customers can also set up notifications for payments exceeding a certain amount, helping to address potential fraud instances faster and more accurately.

Powens seamlessly integrates financial data into PFM tools. Along with banking and PSD2 data, Powens can access savings, loans, investments, benefit accounts, mortgages, trading, and crypto. This detailed wealth data can empower PFM tools to improve their budgeting tools and financial health assessments.

Delta, an all-in-one investment tracking app, leveraged Powens’ Open Finance solutions to transform from a crypto tracker into a comprehensive multi-asset management tool. By automating the import of users’ transactional data, Delta now delivers real-time insights into portfolio performance and helps users “make smart moves only,” ensuring they stay informed about price fluctuations and risk ratios.

 

👉 Read the full Open Banking use case by Delta here.

 

5. Cashback and rewards programs

Open Banking can support cashback and rewards programs.

With the data Open Banking technologies can provide, software vendors can enable real-time tracking of customer purchases and spending behaviors. Customer financial data can be used to create a highly accurate consumer portfolio that identifies potential opportunities for growth in rewards programs.

Along with offering the banking and identity verification solutions needed to run such programs, Powens also offers payout solutions that can simplify your delivery of rewards.

For instance, French shopping super-app Joko uses Powens’ account aggregation and payment technology to offer automatic discount codes and cashback services, meeting its aim of efficiently rewarding customer loyalty. Plus, this doesn’t just benefit Joko’s users but also the brands that collaborate with them. In fact, on average, users spend 15% more on brands that they select amongst their Joko subscriptions.

 

👉 Read the full Joko Open Banking case study here.

 

6. Advanced fraud prevention and identity verification

The real-time access to transaction data that Open Banking can offer plays a key role in supporting advanced fraud prevention and identity verification protocols.

With a solution like Powens’ Account Check, you efficiently onboard and verify new users through an API-based payment experience. Account Check uses Open Banking capabilities to consolidate customer information and make it easier for customers to sign up for new services.

 

👉 Read more about this in our article: Mitigating Threats: Risk Management and Fraud Prevention in Open Banking

 

Open Banking capabilities can propel your financial innovation

Beyond the multitude of use cases that Open Banking can support today, this technology can enable businesses to build new value for their customers and end-users. In the future, the technology is also bound to provide yet more value due to the expected innovations to come.

Powens offers you the flexibility to automate all of your core financial needs, such as bank account ownership verification, onboarding, including KYC and AML, and payments. We also provide the data aggregation and processing solutions necessary to create seamless transactional experiences.

Schedule a demo today to discover our Open Banking and Open Finance capabilities.