Written by </strong></em>Stefano Favale, Head of Global Transaction Banking, IMI Corporate & Investment Banking Division, Intesa Sanpaolo </p> Digital transformation represents one of the most important disruptions of recent years, impacting all aspects of our lives.There has been massive transformation of business ecosystems at different levels with the aim of fully leveraging changes and opportunities from digital technologies. </p> Consequently, banks are facing an even more competitive landscape, made of new processes, competencies and models that require more flexible and innovative solutions. </p> In recent years, customer centricity and immediacy have become essential for the banking industry. Consumers need for speed, efficiency and connectivity is leading banks to embrace new roles and to assist clients in overcoming new challenges. To remain relevant, banks must organise their technologies and systems to better interact with “the new normal”. </p> The COVID-19 pandemic has had a strong impact on companies, which are suddenly faced serious liquidity crises and a new reality made up of remote management and working. Banks have been particularly effective at both introspecting and understanding customers’ new financial needs. This unprecedented disruption has been an opportunity for improving relationships with customers and increasing support, by leveraging innovative solutions based on digital channels and APIs, to achieve empathy at scale across all touch points. </p> In recent years, for example, the Intesa Sanpaolo Group has embarked on a digitalisation process, in which our remote banking platform Inbiz has played a central role in developing the bank-customer relationships of the future. </p> Moreover, APIs have enabled us to strengthen our strategy by allowing creating unique access points for different customers’ needs. This includes an integration with service providers and partnerships with leading fintechs and big techs, which have enabled us to deliver customised solutions in line with market trends. </p> APIs have become the master keys to staying in the game. In recent years, all sectors and industries have recognised the potential of APIs and leveraged them to create innovative business models. </p> Thanks to Open Banking, the majority of financial institutions have opened the door to something that once was considered an “alien concept”. Banks are able to offer a wider range of products by promoting access to third-party applications, on a secure basis. This collaboration is now an essential path to innovation. It represents a new model and a meeting point for several market players, where sharing of knowledge, data and technologies can give birth to innovative products and services and new service models for banks. </p> Intesa Sanpaolo has launched innovative and monetizable services for its Corporate customers, using its Open Banking infrastructure and the API technology developed in response to PSD2 regulation. The Group has confirmed, furthermore, its future commitment in Open Banking schemes with specific strategies such as: </p> API active role, acting as a “Third Party” for account aggregation purposes both in the retail (live) and corporate (WIP) market, complemented by a PISP role; </li>partnerships with transaction hubs, facilitating the “plug-in” of our standard and special APIs; </li>safe approach to the development of new APIs </li></ul> The pandemic has highlighted that the future of the industry is not going to be dependent on in-person interactions. Financial institutions should invest in Open Banking adoption, which is expected to significantly increase in the coming years.</p>