Wych bolsters leadership team appointing Ben Ford as Head of Sales, Australia

NZ Open Banking provider Wych is gearing up for a growth push on both sides of the Tasman and has hired industry veteran, Ben ‘Fintech’ Ford (pictured), to lead sales efforts in Australia in a newly created ‘Head Of Sales, Australia’ role.

Wych, who serve clients in Australia and are working with several major New Zealand-based banks as it moves towards its own Open Banking regime, is uniquely positioned to guide customers in both jurisdictions having been part of the Australian Open Banking ecosystem since 2018 and now at the forefront of the Open Banking push in New Zealand.

Wych offers Open Banking services for Data Recipients, Data Holders and those requiring Data Holder Testing, making it somewhat unique in the Open Banking sector, where vendor selection can be a significant pain-point and resource drain for participants.

Ford, who has been involved in Open Banking in Australia since its inception in 2017 and has held senior sales and growth roles at banking data providers Yodlee and Frollo said, following his appointment, “I’m excited to join Wych at a time when Open Banking momentum is picking up again, especially following the recent formal announcement about the inclusion of non-bank lenders under the Consumer Data Right.

“Wych’s “triple-threat” of data recipient, data holder and data holder-testing solutions means that we can provide a unique single-point software suite to the industry to fast-track organisations in extracting all the exciting good stuff that Open Banking can provide to consumers, as well as fulfilling the regulatory and compliance obligations of Consumer Data Right participants.”

“The Wych tech team and platform is second-to-none, and the fact that they now count ‘Tier 1’ banks as customers, and have performed CTS testing for the ACC is a testament to this.”

Commenting on the appointment of Ben Ford, Wych Founder and CEO, Dermot Butterfield said, “We are delighted to have Ben on board. He’s been around the Open Banking ecosystem for many years and knows first-hand the challenges but also the rewards it can bring. We remain committed to developing a ‘Complete Open Banking’ approach and we feel that this provides a unique point of difference to CDR participants and shortens the time-frame to adoption.”