Citibank Hong Kong has expanded its application programming interface (API) ecosystem by adding GL Tours, Fortress and Watsons as partners.
The move is part of the bank’s a strategy to bring banking and credit card services to more customer digital touchpoints.
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These three brands will integrate the Citi Pay with Points API into their e-commerce platforms, which will allow Citi cardholders to pay for online purchases using their reward points immediately after checkout.
Citibank Hong Kong head of cards and unsecured lending Lum Choong Yu said: “In 2017, we became the first bank in Hong Kong to launch an open API platform to give developers and consumer brands direct access to our APIs for building innovative solutions that benefit customers.
“Through our ever growing list of API partners spanning different industries, we are moving closer to our ultimate goal of bringing banking services to where customers need them and when they need them.”
Besides HKTVmall, Citi Hong Kong earlier teamed up with a number of API partners such as AIA Hong Kong, Octopus Cards, Visa, and Zurich Hong Kong.
The partnership includes the use of Citi’s Open API technology in a number of categories covering cards, customers, money movement, and onboarding.
The bank said that the new services will be rolled out in phased manner in the foreseeable future.
Lum further added: “A healthy banking open API ecosystem also requires industry-wide participation. We are fully supportive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA)’s initiative to promote wider adoption of open API in the banking sector and the recent release of the Open API Framework by the HKMA will further accelerate the implementation of this important milestone for the industry and reinforce Hong Kong’s position as a leading fintech hub.”
