HSBC has signed a three-year global partnership with London-based fintech Bud, under which the bank will have access to Bud’s Open Banking aggregation, data intelligence and marketplace application programming interface (API) services.
Under the partnership, Bud’s technology will be rolled out in phased manner, initially within HSBC’s ‘first direct’ challenger brand. And, will be followed by its UK bank, next year.
The agreement also covers the scope to use the service across HSBC’s other markets and for accessing Bud’s switching services.
Bud has worked with HSBC in the UK since last February when it launched ‘artha’ by first direct. The proof-of-concept app, which ran for a year in the FCA Sandbox, tested several features such as financial management tools and third-party product marketplace functionality. Following the completion of the trial period, it was announced that artha’s features would be integrated into first direct’s main app.
HSBC digital, retail banking & wealth management global head Josh Bottomley said: “By integrating Bud’s technology we will be able to make HSBC’s digital banking even more helpful for our customers. Its aggregation, marketplace and AI services will provide the intelligence to underpin a host of exciting new customer features that we will be exploring over the course of 2020 and beyond.”
Bud raised $20m in series A from several retail banks
Established in 2015, Bud has raised $20m in series A funding from several retail banks including Goldman Sachs, HSBC, ANZ, Banco Sabadell and Investec. It has developed a suite of digital tools to help banks create new services using Open Banking and artificial intelligence (AI).
The startup’s technology is claimed to combine access to Open Banking with a data intelligence platform, adding useful context and information to the data passing through it in service of both good customer and good business outcomes.
Bud CEO and co-founder Ed Maslaveckas said: “Both the scale and duration of this deal demonstrate the benefit of Bud’s technology to one of the largest banks in the world. It’s a real testament to the huge amount of work that has gone into delivering Bud’s platform to market.
“We set out four years ago to help people use their data to simplify their relationship with money and achieve their ambitions. Our work at scale with banks like HSBC is absolutely fundamental in achieving that.”
