bLink

With the bLink platform, SIX creates the basis for innovative partnerships between financial institutions and third party providers. Using bLink’s standardized interfaces (Application Programming Interfaces, APIs), they can securely connect and exchange data to offer new services to their customers. For example, the processing of account information and payment orders directly in the accounting software.

With open banking, financial institutions provide third party providers (e.g. providers of accounting solutions) with uniform interfaces for the exchange of financial data, especially customer data. The aim is to provide customers with a wide range of innovative solutions.

In Switzerland, bLink supports financial institutions and third party providers in setting up and expanding such offerings by providing uniform interfaces, a uniform set of contracts and a standardized admission test.

Currently the following services are available on bLink:

Accounts & Payments

• Account Information Services (AIS)
  Third party providers can obtain detailed account and transaction information for their customers from their banks and use it, for example, for reconciliation with their customers’ accounting.
  
• Payment Submission Services (PSS)
  Third party providers can automatically submit payments from their customers to their banks. After that, only the customer’s approval of the payment in the e-Banking is necessary.

 OpenWealth

• OpenWealth Custody Service (OW CS)
  Third-party providers can obtain detailed position and transaction data for their customers from their custodian banks.
  
• OpenWealth Customer Management (OW CM)
  Third-party providers can obtain customer data and KYC-related information from the respective custodian banks, as well as update contact and address information.
  
• OpenWealth Order Placement (OW OP)
  Third-party providers can place orders for stocks, bonds or funds and check their statuses.

An application consists of two components: on the one hand, the API, i.e. the transferred data (e.g. account information), on the other hand, the earmarking (e.g. for accounting solution).

The data exchanged via bLink is defined in the API specification in business and technical terms. This data may only be used for specific purposes. This means only for the purpose for which the end customer has given their consent.

Two applications are currently available via the bLink platform “Account information for accounting solutions and financial institutions” and “Payment submission for accounting solutions and financial institutions”.

API stands for Application Programming Interface and is a technical interface that enables data to be exchanged between two parties.

Open banking uses APIs for a simple and secure exchange of financial data, in particular customer data, between financial institutions and third party providers (e.g. of accounting solutions).

The data exchanged via the bLink platform (e.g. account information) between service providers and service users may only be used for specific purposes. This results in the application (e.g. “Account information for accounting solutions and financial institutions”).

A service user utilizes the customer data (account information or payment submissions) of a service provider on behalf of their customer.

Both Third-Party Providers (TPPs) and financial institutions can participate as service users.

A service provider provides the service user with customer data (e.g. account information or payment submissions) via bLink.

Both financial institutions and Third-Party Providers (TPPs) can participate as service providers.

If you are an interested financial institution or a TPP, contact the product management directly.

Once a service provider (e.g. a financial institution) and service user (e.g. accounting solution) are connected via bLink, mutual end customers can activate the integration of their banking data into the service user's software solution by giving their consent via the respective bank's online banking. 

In order to exchange customer data between a service provider (e.g. financial institution) and a service user (e.g. accounting tool), the consent of the respective customer is indispensable. This means that the customer always has full control over their data and full transparency about who receives their data and what it is used for. They can revoke their consent at any time.

Find out more in our explanatory video.

The legal framework is regulated by SIX in a uniform contract with each financial institution and each third party provider. This makes costly bilateral negotiations between individual participants unnecessary.

Before participants are onboarded to the bLink platform, they go through an admission to ensure that financial data exchanged through bLink is handled with the required diligence and security. The admission is renewed annually.

The admission test consists of three parts: general test, IT security test, earmarking test.

1. General test
   The general test examines general criteria such as entry in the commercial register, sanctions lists, unethical corporate purpose, sustainable business plan, etc.
2. IT security
   The service user must prove that access to the APIs, to the tokens issued by the service provider and to the transferred data is protected.
   The service provider must prove that access to the APIs and data is protected.
3. Earmarking
   The service offered by the third party provider must correspond to the purpose for which the common customer has given their consent. For example, if the customer has given their consent for their account information to be used in accounting solutions, the admission test will ensure that the third party provider uses the data for this very purpose.

The admission test is carried out once before participation in bLink.
The recurring annual test ensures compliance with the admission criteria during operation.

If you are an interested financial institution or Third-Party Provider (TPP) pelase contact the product management directly.

For more information on the pricing please visit our bLink Portal or contact the product management directly.

In this way, SIX fulfills part of the security-related admission criteria for the connection to bLink on behalf of the Service User. The use of CaaS reduces the initial financial and logistical effort for the Service User.

For more information, please visit our bLink Portal or contact the product management directly.

SIX operates the bLink platform and offers it to financial institutions and third party providers. In this context, SIX charges service providers and service users fees for operating the platform. The service provider is free to charge the service user a service fee for offering the interfaces. Whether and in what form the service user passes on the costs incurred for the use of the interfaces to the end customer is a decision of the service user.