Open Bank Project

Problem:1) Widespread Financial Malpractice, Distrust, Corruption and Fraud2) Banks not very “Web 2.0”

Open Bank Project:1) A sliding scale of financial disclosure / privacy2) An Open Source powered RESTful API

InspirationAbout 5 Years ago I was

Thinking about

Corruption.....

..and a new type of bank..

Image source: John C. McCall and Christey Carwile, Other Africas, http://mccoy.lib.siu.edu/jmccall/otherafricas/

Then - Summer 2008 - Working in a theatre in Athens..

I said: “Lots of EU funded projects here.”

Set designer said: “Lots of corruption here!”

2 years later, Greece is in big trouble.....

Corruption and Fraud:

Over €30 Billion lost each year in Europe.

78% of European citizens think corruption is a problem in their own country.

Corruption - most talked-about global problem, according to a new BBC poll of more than 13,000 people across 26 countries.

'Corruption distorts markets and competition, breeds cynicism... undermines the rule of law... damages government legitimacy, and corrodes the integrity

of the private sector' - Ben W. Heineman Jr. and Fritz Heimann, The Long War against Corruption

1

Inequality +Distrust +Weak Law +Information Deficit

Corruption

“Corrupt acts are almost always hidden. If you are behaving honestly in the public or private sector, you will rarely have a need to hide your actions.“ - Corruption, Inequality, and the Rule of Law, Eric M. Uslaner

Aid Money. Aiding who?

The World Bank StAR initiative was setup to recover stolen assets.

Charitable Status?Just a few examples of recent scandals involving charities:

Accounting / Banking Scandals, Corporate and financial malpractice

Some examples of failed banks: Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers, Northern Rock, Anglo Irish Bank, Glitnir...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accounting_scandals

2007–2010 Financial Crisis is the worse since the 1930's great depression...

Banks not very Web 2.0 – Don't allow

easy integration with 3rd party tools and

services.

2

Most people use software provided by their bank to connect to their bank..

But services such as Twitter and Flickr prove the benefits of enabling 3rd party software to access services: The local monopoly is disrupted.

An “API” allows original, high quality applications to flourish.

• Raising the bar of financial transparency

Financial Privacy / Disclosure shouldn't have to be strictly

ON or OFF

1.

Traditional Savings Account

Current status:A Traditional Savings Account. No one else can (should) login.

Level of DetailLevel of Detail

Disclosure

Frequency

no sharing (full privacy)

share with tax office

share with company

share with friends

share with everyone (public)

yearly quarterly monthly weekly daily real-time

financial “comfort” indicator

account balance

sub category totals

some transaction details hidden

full transaction details

But what if you want to share with your accountant / tax office?


Disclosure

Frequency


share with accountant / tax office

share with company

share with friends




account balance

sub category totals



Current Account shared with accountant

NGO / Charity

An NGO or Charity could practice public transparency by revealing transactions to the web in real time.


Disclosure

Frequency



share with company

share with friends




account balance

sub category totals



What if a Company wants to easily share its financial transactions with its board / share holders / team?


Disclosure

Frequency



share with company

share with friends




account balance

sub category totals



Company

Banks and their customers benefit from an APIAn Open Source RESTful API gateway would greatly increase the choice of tools, software and services available to a bank's customers in a trustworthy, secure manner...

This is good for the bank – and its customers!

Greater application diversity, originality, choice, support options etc.

e.g. this moneybunny app tags bank statements using emails from vendors for easier accounting. (currently using HBCI)

Existing Protocols:• HBCI/FinTS in German speaking countries (and OFX in the U.S.A.)

BUT..

• Non standard server side implementations make client implementation difficult.

• Development and bug fixing is slow

• No 3rd party authorisation.

• Full login credentials required, so the user grants more access rights to the 3rd party web application than needed. Ths violates banks' Terms of Service

• Not RESTful / Not worldwide / Not Open Source

The Open Bank Project will leverage existing protocols where they exist and provide connectors for them.

4

Public “Financial Debug Tools”Fraudulent and Corrupt behaviour would be easier to spot / less likely

to happen if the public had access to “Financial Debug Tools”

Transparency

Empowerment

Good for Democracy!

● Can better engage key stake holders in their financial affairs.

● Receive comments, better deal suggestions and fraud alerts from the public.

● Can demonstrate accountability, transparency and value for money.

● Can better integrate with financial systems and networks.

A Charity

• “The Public donates, The Public sees.”

Publicly Funded Projects● Citizens pay, Citizens see..

- where their money goes in real time.

● Foster greater trust and engagement in Governments

● Crowd source alerts of fraudulent behavior

•“High Trust – High Distrust”

Lewicki, McAllistair, Bies 1998, Trust and distrust: new relationships and realities.

An Open Bank – all accounts open to the Public

- Attractive to those engaged in transparency- New business models and communities emerge- Transactions of the bank itself are transparent- Community can make “better deal” suggestions- Open Source software is used and created, further promoting a healthy financial technical ecosystem.

The Open Bank Project Aims to:● Open transaction data to larger groups of people and software applications● Raise the bar of financial transparency (“many eyes”)

● Enable more enjoyable and productive ways to access transaction data

How?• Apply Web 2.0, Secure Internet Standards, RFC

● Use and produce Open Source technology

● Crowd Source: ideas, feedback, bugs + trust networks

(Examples: Wikipedia, Flickr, Facebook, Apache, Postgres, Firefox....)

Some PartnersTESOBE, Berlin, Germany

CONTEXTIS , London, UK

Fidor Bank AG, Munich, Germany

PROS, Spain (Raul Soriano)

Atos Origin, Spain

Banca Civica, Spain

Sigma Orionis

CNRS, France

ATB, Bremen, Germany

Talking to other banks

and more...

Team

Simon Redfern (Founder), TESOBE

Ismail Chaib, TESOBE

Jan Bölsche. Independent Software Architect, Berlin

Bruno Girin. Independent Internet Banking Solutions Architect, London

Raul Soriano, PROS, Spain

Florent André. Software Engineer (member of Apache foundation) Emmanuel Lecharny, Software Engineer (member of Apache foundation)

Petition

http://chn.ge/o6ieIh

Sign Our Petition!

Contact

Simon Redfern

Email: simon [AT] tesobe [DOT] com

http://www.openbankproject.com

@OpenBankProject

Coming soon: https://github.com/TESOBE/OpenBankProject

Challenge How to get OBP widely adopted?

Objectives Define 10 entities that would benefit from the OBP Get 10 entities to adopt the OBP in a year Engage 10 banks.

Constraints A one year program At least 1 charity, Contributing to the Open Gov Data movement

Open Bank Project

Technology

Transcript of Open Bank Project