Unisys encourages financial institutions to adopt open banking
Unisys is encouraging banks across the world to adopt open banking through the new version of Unisys' Elevate omnichannel banking software platform.
Financial institutions can use open banking to share data with other participating organisations. They can also access more third party applications and services to customers to personalise and improve the banking experience. Customers can pay their bills on the go, transfer funds, and apply for loans or mortgages at any time.
However, many financial institutions may be wary of open banking's effects on security. Unisys engineered its platform to reduce attack surfaces through identity-driven microsegments called communities of interest.
"By establishing secure COIs, Stealth separates trusted systems, users and data from the untrusted. It further reduces attack surfaces by encrypting all communication between Stealth-protected assets and cloaking the assets from unauthorised users.
According to Unisys vice president and global head of financial services, Maria Allen, a true omnichannel experience should allow a consumer to securely complete a transaction from any location and any device.
"It establishes the bank as an integral part of the customers' life – a 'one-stop-shop' where they can get personalised products and services they want, when they want them.
Available now, the new release of Elevate includes key components to help financial institutions take advantage of the benefits provided by open banking
• Data management for personalised offerings:
As more data is generated and shared by consumers every day, managing data presents a challenge for many financial organisations. Elevate features an advanced analytics platform that accrues data across all available banking channels and enables the bank to create personalised offers and generate dynamic content based on a customer's spending habits, as well as provide actionable insight into their spending or savings needs.
• Application programming interfaces (API) integration:
A benefit of open APIs is that they facilitate a bank's ability to integrate new products and services without having to perform a "rip and replace" of legacy applications. However, blending legacy infrastructures with modern tools and technologies via open banking requires changes to existing architecture and increases the complexity of the IT ecosystem. The new version of Elevate features an API portal that facilitates the seamless integration of third-party data and services into a bank's platform without disruption to the bank or the customer.
• Security across multiple touchpoints:
Financial institutions must take care to understand the security protocols of the third parties they are doing business with and be assured that their customers' data is secure while in motion and at rest. Elevate is secured by Unisys Stealth security software, the industry's first and only product with dynamic isolation capabilities to quickly isolate devices or users at the first sign of compromise.
