Our services
The API Centre services are designed to support Standards Users to use and operationalise our API standards. The ongoing development and improvement of our services takes into account the broad design considerations, key roles that need to be undertaken, overseas models and feedback from Standards Users, Community Contributors and industry stakeholders.
The API Centre provides the following services:
- Develops, maintains, and publishes payment-related API standards.
- Administers a development pipeline, in conjunction with the industry, identifying high value use cases to support new standards and improvements to existing standards.
- Manages the versioning and lifecycle of API standards from creation to expiry.
- Drives standards adoption and collaboration.
- Publishes the industry-wide Minimum Open Banking Implementation Plan.
- Manages applications from organisations wanting to join the API Centre as a Standards User, their subsequent onboarding, use of and compliance with the standards.
- Facilitates wider industry input and involvement with the standards through Community Contributor
- Provides customer experience guidelines to support consistent customer experiences.
- Manages a centralised sandbox, which is available to those who have joined the centre.
- Provides a central hub through which industry stakeholders can engage.
- Facilitates API Standards Users entering into bilateral partnerships to bring new innovations to market more simply and quickly.
Service benefits
On behalf of the payments industry, the API Centre:
- Builds an infrastructure foundation that can be re-used and evolved to the industry’s wider Payments Direction strategic objectives.
- Fosters and encourages a more dynamic and digital network, while also simplifying the partnering and development pathway for those in the open banking ecosystem.
- Enables the ongoing standardisation of an API set, ensuring APIs are maintained and managed, and new APIs and functionality are developed in response to market demand.
- Reduces duplication of effort across the industry and enhances delivery for both API Providers and Third Parties by centralising common activities, such as application, registration, onboarding, policy and guidelines, development lifecycle and sandbox services.
- Enables the delivery of an industry-led open banking framework which offers potential for growth of new business opportunities for those involved.
- Reduces the proliferation of bespoke APIs for common payment-related activities. Also reduces fragmentation that causes inefficiencies and inhibits the industry-wide development of new and innovative products and services.
- Creates and enables new capabilities that Standards Users can leverage, providing the potential for them to develop new service offerings or enhance existing ones.
- Creates cost efficiencies by providing universal API standards, so API Providers and Third Parties do not need to build different specs to interact with each other.