Application programming interfaces (APIs) are increasingly used in banking, thus it is crucial for financial institutions to have a solid API strategy to interact with clients and partners.
According to Claire Melling, NatWest Group’s director of Bank of APIs, “there’s a potential to API-enable pretty much all client journeys,” and given the multiple interactions financial institutions (FIs) have with consumers, they can play a “vital part in smoothing out those trips.”
The opportunities are endless, whether they pertain to common financial activities like payments, loans, property transactions, or data exchange. There are opportunities everywhere, said Melling, and as reputable companies, we have a responsibility to help our customers find those answers.
She discussed her three main areas of interest at NatWest, including creating API standards to satisfy regulatory requirements like open banking and the European Union’s Second Payment Services Directive (PSD2).
She said, referring to open banking and other regulations as “a tool to API-enable the company,” “We’re looking at how we can go above and beyond those norms.”
This involves finding areas where NatWest may leverage client characteristics, direct access to business customers, and variable recurring payments (VRPs), a new form of payment instruction in the UK that enables consumers to authorize payment providers to make payments on their own.
