IFM Correspondent
The banking giant joins hands with developers and consumer brands to lead innovation
November 17, 2016: American banking behemoth Citi unveiled a new global application programming interface (API) developer portal on November 10, which it says is the most comprehensive one available in today’s financial services market. The portal enables Citi to connect with developers swiftly so as to build and deliver innovative client solutions faster than ever before, the bank said in a statement.
This move, which facilitates partnerships and collaborations with consumer brands and fintech organisations, indicates the evolution of Citi’s technology to open architecture in ways that will deliver value to the customer, the bank said.
“At Citi, we are focused on making banking easier for our customers by leveraging digitisation, mobile technology and innovation. Our open architecture approach is supported by the launch of APIs as a key enabler for the rapid and dynamic deployment of services and capabilities that will allow us to be increasingly relevant to our customers. The API developer portal enables further acceleration of offering our banking services in all areas of our customers’ digital lives and ecosystems,” said Angel Ng, Country Business Manager, Hong Kong, Citibank Global Consumer Banking, while Sopnendu Mohanty, chief fintech officer of the Monetary Authority of Singapore commented: “This will encourage open collaborations with the fintech community and potentially deliver better financial services for customers.”
As of now, the portal grants developers access to APIs across six different usage types, namely account management, peer-to-peer (P2P) payments, business money transfers, the Citi rewards programme, investment purchases and account authorisation, a list that the company says will expand over time.
“Citi’s Global Developer Portal advances our open innovation approach to delivering cutting edge solutions and enabling new streams of value for clients, partners and developers,” said Stephen Bird, CEO, Global Consumer Banking at Citi. “The rapid pace of technological change demands transformation from the inside out and the outside in. By creating a collaborative ecosystem of leading brands and developers, we will be able to offer a complete suite of products, services and experiences to meet our clients’ financial needs today and in the future.”
Mohanty added, “We are delighted that Citi Singapore is playing a leading role in developing and launching this global API initiative during the Singapore FinTech Festival. This will encourage open collaborations with the fintech community and potentially deliver better financial services for customers, as well as re-affirm Citi’s thought leadership in shaping the future of financial services.”
Developers can now register their interest at developer.citi.com where they will be offered tools to connect in a development sandbox, allowing them to put their ideas into practice.