In its recent investors’ presentation, Mastercard said it sees an untapped market in global payments worth US$255 trillion.

The payments company flagged consumer purchases, remittances, and micro merchant transactions as three huge areas that could provide it with new revenue growth going forward.

To capture these markets, the company acquired Aiia, a European open banking technology provider that offers API access to banks and fintech companies.

Aiia’s infrastructure enables Mastercard to build applications that connects it with banks, allowing merchants and consumers to make digital transactions seamlessly.

Behind all this possibility is the open banking initiative, which has recently changed the face of financial services worldwide by putting users at the centre of where and how their data is used.

The initiative allows the use of open APIs that enable third-party developers to build applications and services around a financial institution.

In Australia, open banking is regulated by competition watchdog, ACCC.

Under current regulations, customers like us have the choice and ability to share our banking data with third parties that have been accredited by the ACCC.

Two ASX fintech stocks jumping on this opportunity

The Open Banking initiative itself was introduced in Australia way back in 2019, with the promise that consumers would have control over the data banks had on them.

The initiative has rejuvenated the Australian banking sector, particularly in the wake of the Royal Banking Commission which uncovered major systemic failures within the industry.

A couple of Australian companies saw the opportunity early, and have jumped on it.

9Spokes (ASX:9SP) has built a technology to visualise and monitor business data, across everything from finance to marketing, in one simple dashboard.

The company has extended its contract with Visa on Monday, after launching its open API platform, 9Spokes Open.

The multi-year global partnership between 9Spokes and Visa will use 9SP’s technology to help Visa’s clients leverage data in new ways.

9Spokes’ cloud-based open API infrastructure connects to apps and data sources across accounting, banking, point of sale, inventory, marketing analytics, and more.

For example, using 9Spokes technology, business customers can choose to connect their data to auto-populate product application forms and supply supporting financial information.

Financial institutions can also get instant access to key information, creating a lower touch customer experience that leads to better conversion rates.

Gloria Colgan, Visa’s global head of products, agreed with Mastercard,  saying the small business payments sector will be one area that will boom in the coming years.

“Small businesses around the world became much more digitally savvy out of necessity during COVID-19 and now, as the world emerges from the height of the pandemic, we are seeing the trend toward digital continue because of the value that can be realised longer-term,” she said.

Another ASX fintech stock that has launched itself on to this opportunity is Change Financial (ASX:CCA).

Change owns a technology that provides the critical infrastructure that connects existing licensed banks with modern API-driven brands such as other fintechs.

The company has several pipelines in play, with the Axiom Bank partnership playing a key role in its US ambitions.

Change’s platform currently manages and processes more than 16 million virtual, credit, debit and prepaid cards worldwide, serving 136 clients in 36 countries.

At Stockhead we tell it like it is. While Change Financial is a Stockhead advertiser, it did not sponsor this article.

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