UK challenger bank Starling is to release its API to third party developers as it undertakes its first hackathon and prepares for the forthcoming launch of its banking-as-a-service marketplace platform.
Starling’s public API enables third-parties to access customer data and build on top of the Starling Platform to create products and services such as chatbots, spending analytics, or connections with the Internet of Things.
The putative banks has already showed off its own experiments with the API, for instance by integrating with Google's rival to Amazon's Alexa to enable users to carry out balance queries and payments through voice commands.
The open API also underpins Starling’s Marketplace model, which is set to launch in March 2017 and will see the bank provide access to a range of third party financial products such as mortgages and loans from innovative fintech startups, all from within the app.
Hackathon participants will gain early access to the developer platform and the Marketplace, along with the necessary credentials to access and start using the Starling API.
Anne Boden, CEO & founder at Starling Bank, says: “Our public API will allow the best innovations to reach our customers in a fast, accessible way. We’re thrilled to be launching our platform and anticipate that some great ideas to help customers will come of our first Hackathon using the open API.”