Akbank began closely monitoring the ‘open banking’ trend back in 2013. As smartphone adoption grew and new mobile apps flourished, the Turkish bank tracked the way customer needs and expectations were evolving. In order to survive and thrive in a highly competitive domestic market, the bank decided to respond to these changes by embracing disruption, innovation and agility.
So Akbank opened up its application programming interfaces (APIs) to third-party developers, start-ups and financial technology (fintech) companies from across the world through its API developer portal, which went live in April this year. “This strategy enables Akbank to reach beyond traditional partners, creating a new channel through this diverse business ecosystem,” says Turgut Güney, Akbank’s executive vice-president in charge of IT and operations.
