BBVA has launched the first Banking as a Service (BaaS) platform in the US. This was after its Open Platform programme completed a six-month beta period.

The BaaS platform offers multiple banking products. Moreover, it offers services for businesses who intend to provide financial products to their customers, without taking on full banking.

It can be leveraged to construct banking solutions for customers. The BaaS platform also supports scalable infrastructure for financial technology and digital commerce.

BBVA Open Platform allows third parties to integrate payments and related banking services into their own business models. Third parties will be able to access the bank’s services via APIs.

Companies can use the BaaS service to connect with a core digital banking platform that enables access to APIs. The APIs include Move Money, Identity Verification, Account Origination and Card Issuance services.

Interested companies can also make use of the Open Platform sandbox testing to work on their proposal before fully signing up.

BBVA Open Platform CEO Abhishek Gupta said: “The past six months in beta have allowed us to not only prove the market is there for this kind of innovation in the US, but also to ensure the BBVA Open Platform delivers a great experience to our customers.

“Turning this live has been a complex process, because ultimately this is a new service operating in a highly regulated and secure environment. But the potential it will deliver in terms of opening up new lines of business and supporting innovation that can really change the way people and businesses bank, is huge.”

The bank already launched the BBVA API Market, comprising 11 banking APIs, in Spain. It also introduced different APIs in Mexico, with plans for additional roll out over the coming months.