Metro Bank to shake up UK banking with developer portal

Metro Bank plans to launch a developer portal in a bid to help consumers and businesses have access to more choices and opportunities when it comes to managing their finances.

The portal will enable third-party companies that are registered with the financial regulatory body, the Financial Conduct Authority, to have access to the bank’s platform and build services on top of its APIs to develop more products and services for consumers.

Collaborating

Metro Bank is collaborating with Google’s API management team, Apigee, for the development of the project, using Apigee’s Edge API management platform to create the self-service portal. The portal will open access to the retail bank’s PSD2 API documentation and sandbox, as well as sample customer data.

News of the developer portal comes after the launch of Metro Bank’s Account Information Service, with the bank also planning to launch additional APIs in the future. These APIs will include a Payment Initiation Service (PIS).

Metro Bank first launched in 2010 and became the first high street bank to open in the UK in 150 years. The bank is expected to have 110 branches by 2020.

Easier

Commenting on how PSD2 will change UK banking, Craig Donaldson, CEO at Metro Bank, said: “PSD2 has the power to shake up UK banking and inject more competition and choice into the market. By working with market-leading Apigee API management, our developer portal will provide third parties with the building blocks they need to develop even more products and services to help make customers’ lives easier.”