Sandstone Technology’s CEO Michael Phillipou helps explain how APIs make exciting fintech integrations possible with many core banking system, however monolithic and problematic they may be.

At a time when it’s easier to switch than ever before, single customer view is a powerful retention and capture tool in the fight for market share, according to Sandstone Technology Chief Customer Office Ross Watts. There are two main battlegrounds for banks generally, says Watts. The first is achieving ‘main financial institution’ status with a customer, meaning that the bank holds the customer’s main transaction account. And the second is the home loan.

As Britons continue to save more in the wake of COVID-19, and more savers do their banking digitally, building societies and banks must re-think how they service their e-savings accounts to increase share of wallet.

Michael Phillipou brings a unique combination of skills to his new role as CEO of Sandstone Technology – including that of an Australian Football League pundit. In an exclusive interview with Fintech Finance, Phillipou talk tactics as he maps out his plans to expand on the back of open banking.

In the first half of 2021, Australians have experienced a major bottleneck in loan application approvals. Lenders continue to struggle as a hot residential property market fuels consumer demand, and as businesses seek to finance a strong recovery post COVID.

During the pandemic, at a time when many SMEs needed their banks’ support the most, they were let down by a major service gap. Outdated digital banking solutions are a big part of this ongoing problem. Banks have traditionally focused on servicing the high-volume retail and enterprise/corporate segments, and neglected small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs). While neobanks have jumped in to fill the gap with products and services targeted to SME needs and challenges, traditional banks continue to lag behind.

The COVID-19 pandemic has left Australia in an environment of low interest rates and reduced stability in earnings caused by government-imposed lockdowns, strategic business changes such as operations, budget cuts and redundancies that affect daily operations and budgets and employment, as well as changes in economic trends; these trends majorly affecting sectors including travel, finance, brick and mortar retail and hospitality, with flow-on effects within the broader economy.

Whether it is personalised content on your social media feeds, instructing Alexa to change the song or using FaceID to gain access to encrypted details on your smart phone, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is something we can no longer ignore and in some cases, we can’t imagine living without it.

Covid-19 has significantly transformed our lifestyle on multiple fronts. From the way we do our professional work, go about our daily responsibilities to planning or managing finances, we all have been pushed to adopt digital technologies. ATM cash withdrawals and footfall at physical bank branches are down, whereas e-commerce and contactless payments have increased significantly. A recent article in the Sydney Morning Herald, pointed out that the ATM usage in recent months has plunged by about 40% in volume compared with last year, while branch traffic fell about 50% from February to April. Contactless payments, in contrast, are up about 65% in value. Australians are showing a greater preference for contactless payments during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to debit card provider Eftpos which is claiming 400% growth of its mobile payments business.

Imagine if all financial data could be moved around like trains with pre-defined carriage content on a standard gauge. With financial transactions forming the backbone of so much of our commercially driven world and ever increasing in volume, it seems now is the time to address making them as efficient as possible.