Tandem and TrueLayer partnership shows how fintech can support fintech
One of the reasons many of the large traditional banks have such clunky IT is the fact that for years they preferred to do most of the development themselves.
Proprietary legacy systems were seen as a way to differentiate. But it was actually very costly and ended up holding banks back. How things have changed?
The same mistake won’t be happen in the challenger banking space, where fintech and collaboration rule.
This brings me on to the deal between Tandem bank and Application Programming Interface (API) supplier TrueLayer.
I have covered Tandem and TrueLayer in fintech interviews. Tandem is a challenger bank while TrueLayer is a company that puts the tech into fintech, with its open banking APIs.
Tandem is using a TrueLayer APIs to enable its 800,000 customers to aggregate all account information from all their banks on its app. So Tandem customers will be able to see all their accounts in one place, without leaving the Tandem app.
Francesco Simoneschi, CEO and co-Founder of TrueLayer, said the partnership is an important milestone in the growth of the Open Banking economy. “By working together we’re delivering on a critical aspect of Open Banking – delivering more choice, innovation and better financial services for consumers and businesses.”
Tandem Bank is a digital challenger bank which currently offers customers a credit card account and savings products, as well as an account aggregation app. It also has plans for a current account. It is striving to use artificial intelligence (AI) to offer customers information and support in managing their finances.
Paul Clark, Chief Technology Officer at Tandem, said: “We differentiate ourselves with our with a unique user experience, digitising personal banking. With TrueLayer we can strengthen our accounts aggregation, opening up opportunities for more customer insights and in the end helping them manage their money every day. That is what Tandem is all about.”
Both companies are UK founded and expanding internationally.
Tandem recently announced its international expansion by announcing plans to open in Hong Kong, its first location outside the UK.
TrueLayer is also expanding internationally and is establishing its services, currently only available in the UK, across Europe and Australia.
It recently announced that it has become a fintech partner with Visa which will enable it to serve global businesses with its open banking APIs via Visa’s network.
It was set up in London in 2016 and provides an API that enables software developers at fintechs to create services that use information from banks. It enables them to be “a secure conduit between the banks and third party applications,” according to Simoneschi.