Ping Identity completes FAPI conformance testing by enhancing security for Open Banking

Ping Identity, the provider of Identity Defined Security, announces its successful completion of the Financial-grade API (FAPI) conformance testing, as part of the process defined by Open Banking Ltd.

This builds on Ping Identity’s previous success as the first identity platform to pass all 70 technical security tests, as set by Open Banking Ltd., with zero warnings. The most recent set of FAPI conformance testing evaluated the latest versions of the Ping Intelligent Identity platform, including PingFederate, PingAccess and PingDirectory, within a mock banking environment.

Additional technical requirements

It switches to an API model with structured data that utilises a token model such as Open Authorisation

The inclusion of FAPI within the Ping Identity solution for Open Banking helps allow banks to overcome insecure practices such as screen scraping by using stored user credentials. Instead, it switches to an API model with structured data that utilises a token model such as Open Authorisation.

FAPI is a technical specification developed as a multi-industry standard by the FAPI Working Group of OpenID Foundation (OIDF). It leverages OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect (OIDC) to define additional technical requirements for the financial industry and other sectors requiring higher security. For banks specifically, FAPI provides various advantages. This includes enabling applications to securely interact with financial accounts, while also enhancing the user’s ability to control security and privacy settings.

Secure identity requirements

In concurrence with the specification, OpenID Foundation maintains a cloud-based testing suite for conformance testing by banks, certified third-party security providers and platform vendors—such as Ping Identity. The Ping Intelligent Identity platform is used by hundreds of financial services enterprises, including many of the CMA 9 and Open Banking Ltd. itself.

Additionally, FAPI is of increasing relevance to the growing number of new fintech start-ups in areas such as investment, wealth management, insurance, payments and even real estate. “This is significant beyond the Open Banking and financial services sector,” explains Rob Otto, EMEA Field CTO, Ping Identity. “Other digitally-focused sectors, with similar secure identity requirements, now have a proven template that can allow them to quickly deploy their own security controls, which have been stringently tested by the largest financial institutions in the UK.”