The personal and corporate bank was ahead of the technology curve in 2016, when it was one of the first to connect BOT to its Facebook Messenger, Instagram and Whatsapp accounts.
Keen to build upon its reputation as an innovator and expand its technological capacity/customer base, Banco Original, launched its BaaS platform in 2019; the same year it launched the first 100% digital account for entrepreneurs and micro-business owners.
Banco Original is a Brazilian financial institution controlled by the holding company J&F founded in 2011 from the merger of two banks, Banco JBS and Banco Matone. In addition to offering corporate banking services, it offers services of a retail bank digitally.
Banco Original views a BaaS platform as fundamental to building a partner ecosystem to connect different areas of expertise, which in turn enable it to offer more financial/non-financial products. It also generates high transaction volumes and customer retention, plus provides an additional revenue source.
Digitalising services however is one thing, but sharing them across a wider ecosystem is another, so when developing its BaaS platform, Banco Original partnered with API specialist, Sensedia.
Sensedia helped Banco Original structure its BaaS model and open APIs for third-parties to connect to. Initially focusing on governance and standardisation of the exposed APIs, Sensedia moved onto migrating APIs and services associated with bill payment, card operations (including BOT-connected systems) and account management.
This was particularly challenging, given API management was historically run by different companies.
But only those fastest off the blocks ... with technology that gives them the agility to compete, will succeed. Judging by Banco Original’s results, the bank is certainly a contender. In January 2019, at the start of its digital journey, Banco Original had 700,000 account holders; at the start of 2021 this had grown to 4 million, an increase of 571%.
Banco Original believes that whoever manages to combine the best, low cost and differentiated customer experience will be ahead of the Open Banking pack. And with regulatory pressure stimulating competition, technology creating new solutions and customers more receptive to new innovations, this sector is a wide open field, ready to accommodate new players.