Open Payments Launches Portal For Developers To Access PSD2 APIs

Sweden-based Open Payments has launched its online platform for developers to access and make use of the rising number of bank APIs surfacing as a result of PSD2.

A press release on Monday (May 7) said Open Payments Europe’s infrastructure now lets developers gain access to banks’ APIs to create FinTech solutions using data from banks while remaining compliant with PSD2. The company noted that the portal’s rollout coincides with Sweden’s adoption of PSD2, which came into effect in the country on the first of the month.

Banks in Sweden now have 18 months to comply with PSD2, which addresses data access and security while enabling banks to open up data for third-party developers in an effort to promote innovation.

“PSD2 is the beginning of a disruption in the financial industry that will fundamentally change how we use financial services,” said Open Payments Europe Co-Founder and CEO Jonas Kjellin in a statement. “For the most part, European banks are developing individual API standards, which means that third-party developers will need to integrate with possibly hundreds or thousands of different APIs throughout the EU to be able to fully leverage the opportunities under PSD2.”

“Our infrastructure platform will provide the solution, helping to make Open Banking a reality for eCommerce platforms, PFM applications, POS and B2B systems,” he added.

According to Kjellin, developers are eager to embrace opportunities under PSD2 but struggle with the back-end operational burden of integrating with troves of APIs emerging in the European market.

“This makes API aggregation and Open Payments’ infrastructure platform a critical consideration as well as a competitive advantage for application developers,” Kjellin said. “The launch of our developer portal is an important first step to help developers prepare for PSD2.”

The platform continuously adds bank APIs as they emerge in beta phase and offers added compliance support for PSD2-related, market-specific regulations like U.K. Open Banking.

“As soon as the transition period is over, we will be ready to go live,” added Kjellin.