Konsentus acquires Open Banking Europe from PRETA

 

Konsentus announced today that it has acquired Open Banking  Europe S.A.S. from PRETA. 

Open Banking Europe S.A.S., a 100% owned subsidiary of Konsentus Limited, will remain a  separate operating entity which will continue to be led by John Broxis. The software  solutions of Open Banking Europe will be directly integrated into the Konsentus business. 

Formed in June 2017, the Open Banking Europe (OBE) initiative has been hugely successful  in bringing together market participants to turn regulatory requirements into operational  reality. The initiative provides its members with a collaborative environment to identify  market issues and problems, championing awareness and creating solutions via guidance,  standards and tools. 

Konsentus was launched in 2018 to enable the safe and secure exchange of data and funds  complying with PSD2 open banking access to accounts. The Directors, Mike Woods and  Brendan Jones, recognised the need for a real-time, online solution to protect financial  institutions against PSD2 Open Banking fraud. This also presented them with a global  opportunity to be a leader in the provision of solutions and services for open banking,  finance and data. 

Like Konsentus, OBE identified the need for a single, standardised, trusted and machine readable repository of regulatory data related to third-party providers (TPPs), which led to  the set-up of the OBE ‘Regulatory Directory’. The Directory consolidates information from the  National Competent Authority registers, making it available in a way that is easy to access  and process. It is used by over 500 of the largest financial institutions across Europe to  support PSD2 access to account compliance processes.

  Through a close co-operation with Konsentus over the coming months, PRETA, a fully owned subsidiary of EBA CLEARING, will strive to ensure a smooth operational handover  for all parties involved. 

The Open Banking Europe Community will complement the work Konsentus is already doing  to support the safe and secure exchange of financial and non-financial information between  payment service providers and other market players for the benefit of the wider digital  economy. 

Mike Woods, CEO, Konsentus, stated “Working with PRETA’s Open Banking Europe was  an obvious next step to accelerate our European expansion and cement our position as  market leader. We are delighted to welcome the clients of PRETA OBE to Konsentus and  are proud that over 500 financial institutions, including some of the biggest and most  prestigious banks within Europe, will also become Konsentus clients. I am delighted that John Broxis, who was Managing Director of PRETA’s Open Banking Europe initiative, is  joining the Konsentus team, which will ensure a smooth transition. In addition, his vast  industry expertise will be invaluable in uniting the open banking ecosystem and global  community.” 

Giorgio Ferrero, PRETA commented, “We identified the need for Open Banking Europe to  grow beyond its incubation stage and move to the next level in an accelerated manner. With  their global expansion plans, product pipeline and fast-growing partner and customer base,  Konsentus is well-placed to pursue the initial ambition for OBE Europe to boost safe and  secure Open Banking globally. We are pleased to bring our OBE clients to this thriving environment, where they will continue to be well served by Konsentus and John Broxis, and  can benefit from new and innovative Open Banking services on a European and global  scale.” 

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