On January 30th and 31st, API Days, the event dedicated to APIs took place in Paris.
This is the opportunity for us to highlight how key APIs are for the payment market and how it impacts business visions for many players.
Haven’t you considered that it may be way much more than a simple tech innovation? APIs, more specifically Web APIs in our SaaS world, are opening new paths for companies as it allows them to design and market new offers.
This is especially true in the payment sector in which many players ARE APIs.
Here are 4 questions to understand the impact of API’s on the business!
1) Why are API such a revolution ?
Let’s define an API first; API stands for Application Programming Interface. This technology allows two applications to communicate and exchange services and information. This said, it is pretty easy to understand how powerful they can be for the business, and especially in the fintech/payment sector made of many players partnering together. APIs enable startups to build products faster, and empowers the FinTech innovation engines. The API approach allows ever-new technology companies to innovate much faster on the built-in platform.
2) How can traditional companies benefit from this technology?
Now, due to the introduction of the PSD2, banks will open their APIs to third parties, like Fintechs. This is a great opportunity for innovation as it will allow developers to latch to Banks APIs and create very specific customised app solutions. The main consequence? An even more frictionless user experience! Open banking creates value through interactions, like an anthill. Dozens of services that make sense through interactions will generate collective intelligence.
3) What are the criteria for a relevant API?
An API has to be stable, this is one of the most important thing. It has to work 24/24 7/7.
An API also has to be easy to use. Even though for the moment each API can have its own standard and protocol, it is important that the sector agrees on a consensus to make API even more efficient.
4) How are APIs impacting businesses ?
APIs are not new in the tech world. It has been part of some sectors for long like in the payment world. At SlimPay for example, it has always been part of our vision as we can consider SlimPay as an API.
The real impact of “APIsation” of a sector will be more on relationship to other players of each ecosystem with whom we will be now able to build stronger relationships faster for the benefit of merchants but also for consumers experiencing more and more frictionless shopping and payment journeys.
API’s are more than a simple technology. It is the opportunity for many companies to rethink their way to do business. To know more about SlimPay’s API, click HERE.
