Technology
05/06/2020

A New Opportunity for Revenue and Efficiency

Intelligence-Report.pngIn 2017, Bank Director magazine featured a story titled “The API Effect.” The story explained how banks could earn revenue by using application programming interfaces, or APIs, and concluded with a prediction: APIs would be so prevalent in five years that banks who were not leveraging them would be similar to banks that didn’t offer a mobile banking application in 2017.

Today, the banking industry is on a fast track to proving that hypothesis.

Banks are hurtling into the digital revolution in response, in no small part, to the outbreak of Covid-19, a novel coronavirus that originated in China before spreading around the globe. The social distancing measures taken to contain the virus have forced banks to operate without the safety nets of branches, paper and physical proximity to customers. They’re feeling pressure to provide up-to-the-minute information, even as the world is changing by the hour. And they’re grappling with ideas about what it means to be a bank and how best to serve customers in these challenging times.

One way to do so is through APIs, passageways between software systems that facilitate the transfer of data.

APIs make it possible to open and fund new accounts instantly – a way to continue to bring in deposits when people can’t visit a branch. They pull data from call centers and chat conversations into systems that use it to send timely and topical messages to customers. And they enable capabilities like real-time BSA checks – an invaluable tool for banks struggling to process the onslaught of Paycheck Protection Program loans backed by the Small Business Administration.

All those capabilities will still be important once the crisis is over. But by then, thanks to the surge in API adoption, they’ll also be table stakes for banks that want to remain competitive.

In short, there’s never been a better time to explore what APIs can do for your bank, which is the purpose of this FinXTech Intelligence Report, APIs: New Opportunities for Revenue and Efficiency.

The report unpacks APIs – exploring their use cases in banking, and the forces driving adoption of the technology among financial institutions of all sizes. It includes:

  • Five market trends driving the adoption of APIs among banks
  • Actionable API use cases for growing revenue and creating efficiencies
  • A map of the API provider landscape, highlighting the leading companies enabling API transformation
  • An in-depth case study of TAB Bank, which reimagined its data infrastructure with APIs
  • Key considerations for banks developing an API strategy

To learn more, download our FinXTech Intelligence Report, APIs: New Opportunities for Revenue and Efficiency.

WRITTEN BY

Amber Buker

Amber Buker is the program director of FinXTech Connect, a curated online directory of bank-friendly fintech companies. She conducts interviews with senior bank leaders and technology executives, writes profiles on fintech companies and maintains a database of information that helps banks source potential technology partners. Prior to Bank Director, Amber served as the Program Director for the Arts & Business Council of Greater Nashville. She earned her Juris Doctor with honors and a certificate in intellectual property from Lewis and Clark Law School in 2015 and holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Northeastern State University. Amber is a member of the Tennessee Bar Association, where she serves on the Executive Council of the LGBT Section of the state bar.