The era of open banking has begun Banque de Luxembourg is the first bank to give its clients access to data on accounts they hold at six of the Grand Duchy’s leading retail banks. The account aggregation service is enabled by the LUXHUB platform and marks the beginning of a new era of open banking in Luxembourg.

This interview with Jacques Pütz, CEO of LUXHUB, and Steeve Gresse, Head of Innovation & Digital Client Experience at Banque de Luxembourg, was published in IT Nation.

The aggregation of data for clients holding accounts at different banks in one single interface is a new solution made possible by the recent PSD2 Directive. “It is a service that we have been discussing for some time and the majority of banks in Luxembourg have been working on it,” explains Jacques Pütz, CEO of LUXHUB. “Banque de Luxembourg, which we are very proud to support in this innovative step, is the first bank in the Grand Duchy to offer its clients access to data for their accounts at six retail banks via its mobile app. By positioning itself as a pioneer of open banking, this 100-year-old Bank is showing that it remains at the forefront of a rapidly changing banking sector.”

Seeing PSD2 as an opportunity to enhance services

LUXHUB’s mission is to support banks in meeting their PSD2 requirements. The organisation manages a shared API platform enabling its clients to make account data available for external consultation in compliance with regulatory standards. Steeve Gresse, Head of Innovation & Digital Client Experience at Banque de Luxembourg, explains, “While considering the challenges involved in PSD2 compliance, we also assessed the opportunities created by open banking. As this type of API management is not a core area of expertise for us, we decided to use the LUXHUB platform. From the beginning, we wanted to use the new drivers resulting from the directive as a way of enhancing our services.

In this changing environment, the challenge will be to differentiate ourselves through the user experience we offer. Steeve Gresse, Head of Innovation & Digital Client Experience at Banque de Luxembourg

A better user experience

Using the LUXHUB One platform, Banque de Luxembourg aimed to be the first to offer its clients a better user experience. “Our clients have always been central to our digital strategy, which is driven by our desire to offer them a service that meets their expectations and provide the best solutions for the many different challenges they encounter.” Account aggregation is a real opportunity for us to create a better digital experience.” From now on, every Banque de Luxembourg client will have a more comprehensive view of their assets via one app: BL Mobile Banking. “Building on the technical advances achieved for account aggregation, we can consider further developments to improve our services in line with our clients’ needs. Challenges relating to security, data confidentiality and APIs are managed directly by LUXHUB,” says Steeve Gresse.

Clients: the drivers of banking innovation

While Banque de Luxembourg may have a head start, other banks are preparing to offer aggregation services. “Open banking will lead to a new kind of competition, and clients will be the main beneficiaries. For banks, the challenge will be to improve the user experience and enhance their solutions based on the data they can obtain from another bank, with the client’s authorisation. This will lead to big changes and faster innovation in the banking sector,” says Jacques Pütz.

A fresh breeze of innovation

Banque de Luxembourg will continue to invest in this area. “In this changing environment, the challenge will be to differentiate ourselves through the user experience we offer,” says Steeve Gresse. “The ability to build long-term relationships with our clients depends on continual reinvention. These new developments allow us to gauge the appetite among our clients for this kind of digital solution. The possibilities are endless, but our short-term priority is to understand the needs of the people who use our platforms and offer the best solutions to answer those needs.” For Banque de Luxembourg’s Head of Innovation, improving access to data within a structured and secure framework, in which end users have ultimate control, is the way to ensure that the era of open banking can really begin. He adds, “We see this as an incredible opportunity to infuse our range of services with a fresh breeze of innovation and to meet our clients’ changing needs through digital channels.”