Banker Gone Fintech – Why Enable Banking?
In the past three weeks that I've been working at Enable Banking, I've been asked a lot of questions about my career change. Two of the most common ones were, "Why did you choose to go to a fintech company?" and "Why did you choose Enable Banking as your new employer?". The former, I answered in my most recent blog post that you can here. For the latter, I have gathered some new thoughts below!
A Name That Speaks for Itself
First of all, I was immediately drawn to the company's mission and values. Our name perfectly encapsulates what we strive to achieve – enabling others to provide innovative banking services – and it also makes clear that we have nothing to hide when it comes to our business practices and the services we offer. This sense of integrity and transparency is something that is important to me as both a consumer of banking services, and as an employee in this field.
At the same time, the act of enabling others is very much related to what would be considered good leadership. One of the key responsibilities of any leader, is to lay a strong foundation upon which others can build, grow and succeed – similar to being a parent, coach or leader in a bigger organisation. Could there be a more interesting field of work than that? Enabling innovation?
In Charge of Your Data
Secondly, I was impressed by the company's strong commitment to consumer privacy and data security. At Enable Banking, we never store, share, sell, or otherwise use any customers' data. We believe that the innovators and their users should be fully in charge of their data – not companies like us. This is a value that I share, both as a long time member of the banking community, where trust is crucial and as a consumer who wants my personal information to be treated with respect and care at all times by those in charge of it.
For a Long-Lasting Partnership
Furthermore, we see ourselves as a partner and an enabler, not a competitor, to the innovative businesses of today, and are committed to working alongside them to help advance the next generation innovative Open Banking use cases.
Our main strength is our wide connectivity with more than 2600 banks connected, enabling banking for others. We want to be your partner for AIS and Financial APIs (you can find all of our current APIs here.
A Strong Mix of Expertise
Lastly, our founders Joonas and Fedor are great experts in their respective fields of technical expertise. With my own background in the commercial space, this creates an ideal balance that gives us both a unique perspective as well as a solid foundation for developing cutting-edge solutions. Together, we are on a mission to put people in control of when, how and for what purpose their financial data is being used.
Since starting three weeks ago, my initial assessment has definitely been confirmed – this is exactly the kind of dynamic and challenging work environment that I was looking for. With our focus on innovation and empowering consumers, Enable Banking is truly setting a new standard in the financial industry, and I am excited to be a part of this journey. If you want to discuss this exciting new future and the vast amount of different Open Banking use cases with us, feel free to reach out below!