Whitecap has been invited to speak at the annual conference of the Canadian Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (CAMIC), to share insights on the evolution of Open Banking in the UK, and the move towards Open Finance.

CAMIC is the voice of the mutual property and casualty insurance industry in Canada. Its mission is to empower the member owned insurance companies of Canada through national advocacy, education, services and the promotion of the value of mutuality. The Association aims to be recognised as the leader in helping Canadian mutual insurance companies become the insurers of choice of the Canadian public.

The conference takes place virtually from 4-5th October, followed by the Annual General Meeting on October 6, and will be attended by Presidents & CEOs of mutual insurance companies in Canada, plus Board Chairs, other board directors and staff.

Whitecap’s presentation, titled ‘Open Banking and Open Finance in the UK’, will be delivered by Julian Wells, Director and Financial Services & FinTech Practice Lead. The session will provide an overview of the rollout of Open Banking in the UK, and will reflect on the progress made, including providing a number of case studies of firms operating in the UK market. Open Banking went live in the UK in January 2018. As at July 2021, the UK Open Banking ecosystem includes 325 regulated providers, 234 Third Party Providers, and 91 Account Providers. 114 regulated entities have at least one proposition live.

Sangita Kamble, President and CEO of CAMIC, says:

“Open Banking is currently the most important advocacy issue to CAMIC members. The recent publication of the final report from the Government of Canada’s Advisory Committee on Open Banking recommended that the initial Open Banking system should be operational by January 2023. In the UK, the work is considerably more advanced and we would like our members to learn from the UK’s experience. We are delighted to have Whitecap Consulting speaking at our conference.”

The CAMIC conference also features a presentation from EY on Open Banking in Canada, which will be delivered by Jennifer Baziuk, Associate Partner in the Insurance & Financial Services, Business Transformation and Strategy, and Puneet Chattree, Associate Partner and Global Insurance Mutual Network Leader.

Martin Shaw, Chief Executive of the Association of Financial Mutuals (AFM) in the UK, will also be speaking at the conference. Opening and hosting the session within which Whitecap will be presenting, Martin will be providing an overview of the recent experiences of the AFM membership, which includes 43 mutual insurers, friendly societies and not for profit health care plan providers. Whitecap is currently working with AFM to conduct a strategic analysis of the the market landscape, including analysing key factors such as mutuality, the role of technology, and the growing impact of ESG.