Introduction

In the rapidly evolving financial services landscape, the traditional model of closed data is being replaced by a new paradigm: Open Finance. By leveraging secure APIs, financial institutions can access a much richer, real-time stream of customer data, revolutionizing how they assess and manage risk. This shift allows for more dynamic credit scoring, personalized lending products, and a deeper understanding of customer financial health. This Unlocking Data: Training Course on Open Finance & API-Enabled Risk Analytics is a 10-day intensive program designed to equip professionals with the knowledge and tools to harness this data for more accurate and predictive risk analysis.

This course will guide you through the principles of Open Finance, the technical architecture of secure APIs, and the practical application of this data in risk models. You will learn to build, integrate, and analyze data from multiple financial sources to create a truly holistic view of a borrower's risk profile. By the end of this training, you will be able to move beyond static, historical data, enabling you to make more intelligent, data-driven decisions that will not only mitigate risk but also create new business opportunities.

Duration: 10 Days

Target Audience

• Financial analysts and managers
• Credit risk analysts
• Data scientists and machine learning engineers
• Product managers in FinTech
• Business intelligence professionals
• Compliance officers and regulators
• Solution architects and developers
• Financial planners
• Investment strategists
• Anyone working in digital finance

Objectives

• Understand the core principles of Open Finance and Open Banking.
• Learn about the API economy and its role in finance.
• Acquire and process data from multiple, diverse sources.
• Build risk models that incorporate real-time financial data.
• Understand the regulatory and security challenges of Open Finance.
• Design and implement an API-driven risk analytics workflow.
• Evaluate the benefits and risks of using third-party data.
• Explore use cases for open finance in lending and payments.
• Understand the future of data-driven risk management.
• Develop a strategy for your organization's API integration.

Course Modules

Module 1: The Open Finance Revolution

• A history of Open Banking and Open Finance
• The difference between Open Banking and Open Finance
• Global trends and regulatory drivers
• The business case for data sharing
• The impact on traditional financial models

Module 2: API Fundamentals for Finance

• What is an API and how does it work?
• RESTful APIs vs. other architectures
• Secure API authentication and authorization
• API gateways and management platforms
• Common API formats and protocols

Module 3: Data Sourcing and Integration

• Identifying valuable data sources via APIs
• The process of API-driven data extraction
• Data cleaning and normalization
• Handling data in different formats
• Creating a unified data pipeline

Module 4: Risk Analytics with New Data

• Moving from historical to real-time risk assessment
• Incorporating transaction data into credit models
• Leveraging social data for risk insights
• The role of alternative data sources
• Enhancing credit scoring with behavioral data

Module 5: Credit Scoring in the API Era

• The evolution of credit scoring models
• Building a dynamic, real-time credit score
• Using machine learning for predictive scoring
• The challenge of model explainability
• Designing a transparent and fair scoring system

Module 6: Lending and Origination Use Cases

• Instant loan approvals and credit decisions
• Personalized loan product offerings
• Automated underwriting and loan servicing
• Small business lending with real-time cash flow analysis
• Fraud detection and prevention

Module 7: API Security and Compliance

• OAuth 2.0 and other security standards
• Data encryption and tokenization
• Protecting against data breaches and cyber threats
• Understanding data privacy regulations (e.g., GDPR)
• Best practices for API security in finance

Module 8: The Role of AI in Open Finance

• Using AI to process unstructured data from APIs
• Natural Language Processing for risk assessment
• AI-driven fraud detection in real-time
• The future of AI in financial services
• Ethical considerations in AI and data privacy

Module 9: Building an API-Driven Architecture

• Designing a microservices-based system
• Choosing the right technology stack
• The role of API gateways and service meshes
• Scalability and reliability of the architecture
• DevOps practices for financial services

Module 10: Payments and Customer Experience

• API-driven payment initiation and processing
• Real-time payment reconciliation
• Enhancing the user experience with integrated data
• Building new business models around payments
• The impact on global payment systems

Module 11: Enterprise Strategy and Governance

• Developing an Open Finance strategy for your firm
• The role of governance in API management
• The risks of third-party integration
• Collaboration with FinTechs and developers
• Change management for API adoption

Module 12: Business Models and Monetization

• Creating new revenue streams from data
• Partnering with data aggregators
• Offering APIs as a service to other firms
• The economics of the Open Finance ecosystem
• Value creation and data ownership

Module 13: The Future of Regulation

• Emerging regulatory frameworks globally
• The shift towards mandatory data sharing
• Impact on cross-border transactions
• How regulation will drive innovation
• Preparing your business for a regulated future

Module 14: Capstone Project Part 1: Design

• Defining a risk analytics problem to solve
• Designing the API-driven data workflow
• Selecting the right data sources and APIs
• Outlining the predictive model
• Planning for security and compliance

Module 15: Capstone Project Part 2: Build & Present

• Building a working prototype of the system
• Integrating data from APIs
• Training and evaluating the risk model
• Presenting the final solution to the class
• Receiving feedback and recommendations

Training Approach

This course will be delivered by our skilled trainers who have vast knowledge and experience as expert professionals in the fields. The course is taught in English and through a mix of theory, practical activities, group discussion and case studies. Course manuals and additional training materials will be provided to the participants upon completion of the training.

Tailor-Made Course

This course can also be tailor-made to meet organization requirement. For further inquiries, please contact us on: Email: info@skillsforafrica.org, training@skillsforafrica.org  Tel: +254 702 249 449

Training Venue

The training will be held at our Skills for Africa Training Institute Training Centre. We also offer training for a group at requested location all over the world. The course fee covers the course tuition, training materials, two break refreshments, and buffet lunch.

Visa application, travel expenses, airport transfers, dinners, accommodation, insurance, and other personal expenses are catered by the participant

Certification

Participants will be issued with Skills for Africa Training Institute certificate upon completion of this course.

Airport Pickup and Accommodation

Airport pickup and accommodation is arranged upon request. For booking contact our Training Coordinator through Email: info@skillsforafrica.org, training@skillsforafrica.org  Tel: +254 702 249 449

Terms of Payment: Unless otherwise agreed between the two parties’ payment of the course fee should be done 10 working days before commencement of the training.