The FI e-standardization blues ----------------------------------- Have you seen the movie "A beautiful mind"? In case you have not it is about a Nobel-prize winner (disturbed but brilliant at the same time), who's primary thesis is an game optimization theory that goes as follows:
"You gain more by doing something that your entire group gains by, than by doing something that only benefits yourself" I believe this applies extremely well the establishment of infrastructure standards. An industry which seems completely unaffected by this theory as well as by the virtual cemetery of earlier failed proprietary efforts, is the financial sector. Even in a very small country like Sweden the FI sector (only comprising of 4-5 major banks) have managed to not unite on: - Electronic invoices (3 different) [1] - On-line payment systems (4-5 different) - Citizen electronic ID software/system (3-4 different) A recent US example is NACHA's Project ACTION, were the members preferred shelving the entire project rather than putting it in the public domain where it might have spurred the creation of a highly needed on-line payment system standard. It is also interesting to note that banks in spite of their heavy use of IT, are virtually invisible in general standardization efforts and that they in their own standardization efforts, often charge huge member fees excluding a lot of potentially useful people and organizations. I believe it is time for the financial industry to [re]enter the 21st century with an open mind instead of unmotivated fear. Anders Rundgren 1] After 5 years(!) of unsuccessful operation, they have finally concluded that the customers' apparently have no interests in supporting three invoicing "standards" that essentially do the same thing.
