• Published on 2 November 2017
• 944 Views
• Print

DBS launches banking API developer platform

DBS Bank has launched a banking API developer platform.

The API platform will boost the bank’s lead in creating innovative and customer-centric experiences by making available a wide array of APIs for other brands, corporates, fintechs and software developers to plug into. This has the potential to significantly accelerate the bank’s digital ambition and customer impact.

With 155 APIs at launch for Singapore across more than 20 categories such as funds transfers, rewards, PayLah! and real-time payments, the platform will offer the world’s largest number of and most relevant banking APIs for companies, whatever their focus, from fintech to lifestyle to build upon. More categories will be added in response to demand.

Notable too is that more than 50 companies including household names such as AIG, McDonald’s, MSIG, PropertyGuru, as well as start-ups like Activpass, FoodPanda, Homage, and soCash have already hopped onto the platform to develop solutions that will bring more convenience and value to customers.

For example, McDonald’s is the first fast food chain to offer round-the-clock food delivery services. By making use of DBS’ banking APIs under the PayLah! payments category, McDonald’s introduced the convenience of PayLah! to its McDelivery customer base this year, expanding their cashless payment options.

A McDonald’s spokesperson said, “We serve more than 1.2 million customers a week in Singapore. The DBS API partnership has helped us to speed up the process of payments so that our customers can focus on enjoying their meals. Speed is essential in this process, and we’re delighted that banks such as DBS are exploring the use of digital capabilities to smoothen such experiences.”

Another example is social enterprise Homage, a one-stop, on-demand service that offers in-home caregiving services for seniors to help them maintain their independence, and live with dignity and grace in their old age.

By partnering with DBS, Homage’s customers, who are usually family members of the seniors who need care, are now able to instantly redeem their credit card reward points to arrange for a Care Assessment by a professional Homage Nurse and Care Specialist to determine the home care needs and requirements of their loved ones.

Gillian Tee, CEO and co-founder, Homage said, “Families who engage Homage want the peace of mind and security that their loved ones are well taken care of. Therefore, it's great to work with DBS to provide our care managers with a painless and hassle-free payment experience as they take the first steps in engaging care, keeping the administrative part of home care in the background and allowing our care to stand out. Families across Singapore can now directly pay for an in-home care assessment and get a custom care plan through their credit card reward points. I’m impressed that they took time to understand Homage’s on-the-ground challenges and were able to work with us to integrate financial relief schemes and payments within our app so that caregivers could have a one-stop-shop to book and pay for the care that their loved ones need.”

Customers searching for their dream home on PropertyGuru, Asia’s leading online property group, can also get an instant affordability assessment. Vivek Kumar, Director, Product (Consumer) Technology, PropertyGuru Group said, “In Singapore, PropertyGuru helps more than five million people every month to find a home. We constantly deliver on our mission to empower property seekers to make confident property decisions and are very excited to partner with DBS and launch Singapore’s first home loan affordability check. Property seekers, while browsing for property options, now have real-time access to their home loan affordability making their search process extremely effective.”

Shee Tse Koon, Group Head of Strategy and Planning, and Head of Ecosystems, said, “The digital momentum that we see today is just the tip of the iceberg. By creating ecosystem partnerships – collaborating, creating and innovating together with partners – we believe that we can provide the best products, solutions and experiences. Today’s launch is a bold move in the direction of shaping the future of banking, with the customer at the heart of the banking experience.”

David Gledhill, Group Chief Information Officer, DBS Bank said, “DBS embarked on a journey to transform our tech infrastructure nine years ago. With that early start, we are now ahead of many others in being digital to the core. This has given us an edge – enabling us to operate with fintech-like agility and nimbleness, and also platform-like inclusiveness. This will be transformative in ways not imagined previously, both for the customer and the bank.”

Re-disseminated by The Asian Banker