The problem

The most of us who have tried to switch bank, know how big of a hassle it can be. New accounts, a new setup of direct debits, new debit cards and new pin codes...

My personal experience

I recently switched from one bank to another to get a much better deal. The process was worth it, but I experienced first hand the hassle it can be. It's easy enough to move your money from one account to another, and move your direct debits to the correct accounts.

What I did not realise was how little oversight I had over where my old debit card was registered. Everything from Spotify, Netflix, Squarespace and even my travel card was registered to my old debit card. Some subscriptions were monthly, others quarterly and some even yearly. It's clear to see that it's not easy to get an overview of where a debit card might be registered.

I found out this the hard way. One morning when I had to go on my daily commute to work my travel card didn't work. I've had forgotten to update the payment information, so my travel card tried to pull money from my old debit card. Never again!

Open banking

Today, a lot is going on in the banking industry. Open Banking opens up for endless possibilities of new banking experiences. The result of this is Nordic API Gateway. The Danish startup provides payment APIs which can be used to get access to banking data in various applications, like the budgeting app, Spiir...

The solution

A solution to the problem I experienced when switching bank is based on the API from Nordic API Gateway.

The idea is to create an onboarding module directly in the bank's app, so the user step by step can sign documents, name accounts, set up direct debits, activate new debit cards and last but not least... get an overview over where old debit cards are registered so the payment information can be updated.

Step 1:
The user will input the card information of the old debit card.

Step 2:
The module will with the API from Nordic API Gateway look where the card is registered through bank information.

Step 3:
The user will get an overview of where the old card is registered and used. The user can select a current card from the new bank to update the card information with. This can be done manually or automatically.

Step 4:
Card information updated... :-)

(Disclaimer: for the API from Nordic API Gateway to update the card information automatically, there would have to be an integration between the payment provider and the API, as the API is currently read-only.)