AIB launches industry standard Open APIs in Ireland

AIB has launched Ireland’s first industry standard Open Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). This technology now allows customers to benefit from secure trusted technology from third party providers (TPPs), once they give their permission to do so. Open APIs are a proven way to allow trusted TPPs to access, should the customer choose, their financial data in order to offer the customer a banking service directly, meaning innovative new solutions can be developed by external partners. AIB was one of the first banks to launch APIs in the UK earlier this year and is now adopting the same standard in Ireland.

The European regulation known as the Payment Services Directive 2 (PSD2) requires banks across Europe to publish open APIs by September 2019 at the latest. The regulation progresses the innovations associated with the Open Banking concept, which is creating greater innovation, competition, and choice for consumers.

For TPPs such as Fintechs, open APIs are considered the best practice approach for technology integration. The technology specifications for AIB’s Open APIs are publicly available, meaning it’s easy for anyone to understand how their APIs work and how to integrate with them. The bank also provides a publicly available dedicated testing environment called a Sandbox. This is an environment which allows anyone to learn about and experiment with AIB’s Open APIs in a safe way.

This move builds on AIB’s success in the UK, with over 20 newly regulated TPPs are now accessing AIB’s UK APIs. These TPPs are making thousands of API calls every month, with volumes increasing rapidly, offering customers budgeting tools and financial management tools.

Niall Buckley, AIB Head of Digital Ecosystems said “For us at AIB, Open APIs are much more than a response to a regulation, they’re a huge opportunity. We’ve worked with partners to deliver great digital experiences over many years.”

“In the past, this technical integration has been specialised and, in many cases bespoke, resulting in longer timelines and higher costs for our partners. Now we have a standardised, secure, open specification for strategic partners to access our digital services and allow customers choice. This means that third party partners can quickly and easily understand how to connect to us. This will transform the speed and agility with which AIB can deliver greater digital customer experiences, further demonstrating our commitment to backing our customers to achieve their dreams and ambitions.” he continued.

AIB has a new website known as a Developer Portal which has all the information about its Open APIs, how to use them and how to get access to the Sandbox. Go to https://developer.aib.ie/ to learn more.

Imran Gulamhuseinwala OBE, Trustee of the OBIE (Open Banking Implementation Entity) said

“This is a tremendous step forward for AIB and their customers as well as for the open banking movement. Not yet a year old, the Open Banking Standards are proving to be extensible beyond the UK market and are now becoming a critical component of any bank’s digital strategy and customer proposition. I am delighted to see AIB expand open banking into their home market, ultimately enabling customers in both the UK and now Ireland the opportunity to securely move, manage and make more of their money.”