TRENDING: IBM On The New Rules Of The ‘API Economy’

The emergence of APIs is doing more than just changing the way banks and FinTechs operate. It’s forcing them to create new marketplaces and ecosystems where innovations are traded and, in the process, upending the traditional rules of the financial services market.

With the market rapidly evolving, is it time for traditional financial institutions (FIs) to learn the rules of the new API economy?

The December edition of the PYMNTS.com B2B API Tracker, a FI.SPAN collaboration, highlights the latest developments that are changing the pace of payments, including delivery across borders and notable collaborations between traditional banks and FinTechs.

Around the B2B API world

Across the B2B space, several companies recently launched services to help businesses with a wide range of payment-related needs, from securing cash flows to integrating new B2B solutions.

Visa, for one, recently announced that a group of American and Asian banks had joined the Visa B2B Connect pilot program. The program — which is part of an effort to help business partners worldwide deliver payments between borders — was developed using Visa’s “API-first” strategy to offer banks a more secure and efficient way to make international payments.

Meanwhile, in other international payment developments, accounts payable company MineralTree recently partnered with Western Union. The company will integrate Western Union’s international payment capabilities into its own platform to facilitate cross-border business payments. It will also offer two-way synchronization that works with common enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, automated invoice data capturing and direct integration with bank and credit card accounts.

Finally, some big players in the financial services industry are joining the blockchain bandwagon to improve B2B payments. Recent examples include American Express and Santander U.K., both of which recently collaborated with Ripple to develop a blockchain-powered cross-border payment service and to create the first-ever transaction channel between the U.S. and U.K. — all to streamline international payments.

Check out the Tracker’s News and Trends section for more news and highlights in the B2B API space.

FIs go back to school to learn API Economics 101

The emergence of APIs has helped traditional banks and newer, disruptive FinTech companies set aside their differences to work on collaborations that could benefit both sides.

And these collaborations, according to Tom Eck, IBM’s chief technology officer, have led to the creation of a new “API economy,” which includes a network of marketplaces where API-based innovations are developed, bought and sold. For the December feature story, Eck spoke with PYMNTS about what traditional FIs need to understand about the new rules of the API economy.

To read the story, download the latest Tracker.

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To download the December edition of the PYMNTS.com B2B API Tracker, fill out the form below.

About the Tracker

The PYMNTS.com B2B API Tracker, a FI.SPAN collaboration, serves as a monthly framework for the space, providing coverage of the most recent news and trends, along with a provider directory highlighting the key players contributing across the segments that comprise the B2B API ecosystem.