How to resolve AdBlock issue? Grant Augustin’s SISS Data Services at the forefront of open banking innovation
By Leon Gettler, Talking Business >>
THERE ARE ENORMOUS opportunities now opening for financial technology (fintech) companies.
Grant Augustin, the founder and CEO of SISS Data Services, says “open banking” has extended these opportunities.
He says SISS is basically there to do the “plumbing” for data coming from banks.
“If data from banks is going to accounting software, we’re that reliable plumber who moves that data around,” Mr Augustin told Talking Business. 
He said SISS Data Services has been operating for 15 years.
“The genie has been let out of the bottle for customers to share their data and get services,” Mr Augustin said.
“On one side, we now have a safe and secure way to share our data – but businesses need to be mindful of what they’re sharing and with whom they’re sharing.
“For fintechs, the opportunities are growing,” he said.
“We’ve all been through that process. If you go back five years, it’s a paper-based process. You submit an application form and bank statements and you might get an answer in two weeks.
“There are now fintechs using open banking data to make a decision in minutes for loans up to $500,000, all driven by open banking data, so it’s a great opportunity, not only for businesses but the fintechs surrounding them.”
Getting banking out into the open
Mr Augustin said open banking replaces the old system of screen scraping where a user shares their internet banking details with a third party which, he said, was “the equivalent of giving someone the keys to your house and hoping they only take the milk”.
“To give constructive feedback to the regulator, if I was to give a score out of 10 on how we’ve educated the wider community on there is a safer alternative, I think I would give it a two or three out of 10,” Mr Augustin said.
“We’ve done a poor job. Nobody’s heard of it therefore nobody is using it and we’ve got this perpetual cycle of it being under-utilised. So I think as an industry, we need to do more.”
Mr Augustin said regulatory change is coming, with the ACCC saying screen scraping does not have a future. The banks have come out and said the same, as has Treasury.
“We are at that pivotal point,” Mr Augustin said.
“We want people to trust the system so let’s give them a system they can trust.”
Bringing banking up to speed
Mr Augustin said Australia had an active data sharing process long before open banking was introduced in the UK – and Australian banks have used direct feeds for their data for 30 years.
The UK’s move to bring in open banking had elevated that process.
He said SISS Data Services uses direct feeds which plug into the core banking systems of banks and open banking, which made the process all-digital.
“We think this has great benefits for consumers and accountants,” Mr Augustin said.
“The efficiencies and the innovation that’s going to happen when you combine it with AI (artificial intelligence) is a great opportunity ahead for Australians.
“One thing that I would point out that the Australian Government got right with consumer data is they made it an economy-wide data sharing regime.
“So we’re starting with banking but we can expect in the future there’ll be open super, open wealth, open insurance,” Mr Augustin said. 
“So you look at the possibilities and benefits for Australia when you combine banking data with insurance data or wealth data. There are a lot of efficiencies and innovations to be had.”
Hear the complete interview and catch up with other topical business news on Leon Gettler’s Talking Business podcast, released every Friday at www.acast.com/talkingbusiness