Hong Kong's Monetary Authority will launch its open application programming, or API. The financial hub is playing catch up with Singapore, whose monetary authority rollout its first set of API almost two years ago. 

In a push to move Hong Kong's financial sector into the era of «Smart Banking», the Hong Kong Monetary Authority said an open application programming interface, or API, will be launched on its official website for public access from Monday. 

«Open API can help to ensure the competitiveness of the banking sector, encourage more parties to provide innovative and integrated services that improve customer experience,» said HKMA in its statement. 

It will first release 50 sets of financial data and important information next week, followed by another 80 sets of information in later stages until the middle of next year. These cover frequently assessed information such as statistics on Hong Kong dollar exchange rates, interest rates, the banking sector and the Exchange Fund, which is used to back the currency.

Open API Framework Published

On Wednesday, HKMA published the Open API Framework for Hong Kong's banking sector. The framework has been formulated after consultations with 41 banks, technology, fintech companies and interested parties.

«We hope that the framework will provide specific guidance to enable collaboration between banks and third-party service providers, and ultimately bring new experience of innovative, convenient and safe banking services to customers,» said Norman Chan, chief executive of the HKMA. 

Implementation in stages

For banks, HKMA expects them to deploy Phase I Open APIs within six months and Phase II open APIs within the next 12 to 15 months. At the initial stage, the framework focuses only on retail banking operations in Hong Kong, given that it covers services offered to the largest group of customers. 

However, banks can extend the framework to any other banking business as deemed appropriate, added HKMA. 

Singapore MAS Ahead

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) published its first set of APIs back in November 2016, according to its press statement. As in a similar case to Hong Kong, it started with 12 sets of information covering frequently accessed data such as interest rates and exchange rates. 

«MAS has been encouraging financial industry players to publish open APIs on their datasets, to allow users to connect information and offer innovative solutions,» said Lawrence Ang, executive director of information technology department at MAS during the launch of the body's APIs. MAS has since been adding product APIs contributed by banks on its website.

Additionally, MAS co-created a playbook with the Association of Banks Singapore – the ABS – that identifies common APIs for the industry and ideas for the future. Two of the pages in the playbook even featured the ABS-MAS Financial World API Periodic Table in full color. A periodic table is an arrangement of chemical elements in tabular format.