In brief: Hong Kong gets first API exchange for banking

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Joint Electronic Teller Services (JETCO) today announced the official launch of its JETCO APIX exchange platform, which will provide over 200 APIs from 13 banks. These APIs cover product and service information including deposit, foreign currency exchange, loans, investment, insurance, and other general banking services such as safe deposit box, branch, and ATM.

JETCO APIX’s target customers cover companies in all industries, ranging from banks to third-party service providers and application developers. The platform provides easy and seamless connectivity for users, allowing them to collaborate and co-create new products and services in a safe and standardised environment, leading to shorter time-to-market at lower cost.

Source: JETCO

Starting today, developers will be able to sign up to the platform, which will include a sandbox facility that allows them to test products.

The 13 banks providing the APIs are Bank of East Asia, Bank of Communications, Citibank, China Construction Bank, Chong Hing Bank, China CITIC Bank, CMB Wing Lung Bank, Dah Sing Bank, Fubon Bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, OCBC Wing Hang Bank, Public Bank, and Shanghai Commercial Bank.

UnionPay-backed JETCO was set up by a consortium of Hong Kong banks in 1982 to operate ATMs across the territory. Today, it has around 3,000 ATMs in Hong Kong, Macau, and mainland China. Last February, it launched in-store QR code payments for its merchants in Hong Kong.