In the BNP Paribas sandbox, third-party developers will be able to test an Account Information Services (AIS) API, which allows access to account balances and history via third-party applications, and a Payment Initiation Service (PIS) API to initiate payments via third parties.

The shift to third party access is being driven by the revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2), prompting banks to provide open banking services within a deadline of 14 March in an effort to boost competition and encourage innovation.

Michael Anseeuw, general manager, retail banking at BNP Paribas Fortis, says: “In opening our portal, we’re inviting innovators and fintech firms to come and test their solutions in a secure environment, enabling them to subsequently offer customers new tailored services. This portal will help to forge an ecosystem of Fintechs, partners and external developers with a view to building new applications to meet the needs and expectations voiced by our customers.”

To launch new services based on the Bank’s PSD2 APIs, a Third Party Provider must first obtain certification from the national central bank. The trusted TPP will then need to present its certification to BNP Paribas Fortis and obtain user consent in order to access customers’ accounts or initiate a payment.

Tom Hansen, manager in charge of the Open Banking Portal, says that new services and functionalities will be added to the portal and the test environment over time.

“With this portal we’re providing a tool designed to support innovation," he says. "It has been built with and for developers and we’ll continue to improve it so as to ensure a real development experience. The launch of the portal is an important step in BNP Paribas Fortis’ journey towards Open Banking.”

At HSBC, the Developer Portal is a secure sandbox environment where developers can test Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) for three services: Account Information, Payment Initiation and Funds Confirmation. Developers can access mock data from Retail and Corporate Payment Accounts in scope of PSD2.

Nadya Hijazi, global head of global liquidity and cash management digital, HSBC, says: "We are keen to work with multiple parties to develop and test their applications and customer propositions through easy and secure access to the wide range of simulated products and services on our PSD2 Developer Portal. We look forward to working with third party payment providers across Europe to use HSBCs services and bring new innovation to the market through an intuitive developer ecosystem.

This testing facility in the HSBC sandbox environment provides developers with the choice of Open Banking Implementation Entity (OBIE) and STET standards, with work underway to include the Berlin Group standards.