Mastercard Reveals Connect Plus — Its New ‘Command Center’ For Open Banking

Payments giant Mastercard recently unveiled a new set of tools created to simplify the way people share their financial data with various third parties. 

What Can Connect Plus Offer?

Mastercard’s new solution is known as Connect Plus, and it is a data-consent command center that lets people control who can access their financial data, as well as where from and how. The company explained that individuals can search for and link their bank accounts, see who is allowed to access that account’s data, and grant or revoke consent at any time — all from a single application.

Connect Plus also has special mechanics in place to make sure that the consumer will be kept in the loop at all times. Because of this, the app will notify the user whenever some third party’s permission to access the account data is expiring, or if it requires special attention for any reason.

Mastercard’s EVP and global head of open banking and API, Jess Turner, commented on the new development, saying that it is important for individuals and small businesses to have agency over their own financial data. Knowing who has it, where it is going, and how it is being used allows the data owners to make informed decisions.

They also get to access better opportunities with this knowledge, and even have more confidence that their financial data is actually theirs. 

Mastercard Attempts To Tackle Fraud In Open Banking

Mastercard has been delving deep into data ownership and security over the years, and lately, it also implemented new security features to its Account Owner Verification tool. 

The new features were designed to help against bank, individual, and device fraud in the open banking ecosystem.

The rapid spreading of open banking as a trend has left many financial institutions, regulators, and users unprepared for the new wave of challenges, with fraud being by far the most critical. With open banking, third-party firms have the ability to access customer financial data through APIs, creating a bridge between customers and their financial providers. But, if the data is breached during the process, it isn’t always clear who is liable.

Fraud makes things in open banking unclear, which makes it attractive to criminals since it is easier to mask where the fraudulent activity is coming from. Along the way, it can create massive liabilities for third-party applications, and the banking industry as a whole.

In an attempt to tackle the issue, Mastercard added new security features which now allow for elevated insights to confirm ownership, verify identity, and validate the device that is being used when connecting to a bank account, all through a single API.