Yolt Technology Services tops 1 billion open banking API calls

• Yolt Technology Services has reached 1 billion open banking calls following its expansion across Europe.
• Usage of YTS' API will likely accelerate further, though financial services players' in-house developments could pose a challenge to growth. 
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YTS has surpassed 1 billion API calls—single uses of its API—experiencing 10% month-on-month growth in the past year, per AltFi. Launched in 2017 by ING Bank, YTS provides financial institutions (FIs) and tech firms with three services, underpinned by API technology: account information services, payment initiation services, and data enrichment.

YTS' growth is down to its expansion across Europe, with the coronavirus pandemic further boosting use of its infrastructure.

• YTS expanded its coverage throughout Europe. It announced back in May that its API infrastructure can now connect to 80% of bank accounts in Italy, France, and Spain. YTS is even more successful in the UK with 90% coverage, having secured connections with the nine leading UK banks, American Express, and numerous fintechs—each new connection increasing the frequency of API calls.
• The pandemic has highlighted the benefits of open banking. Consumer financial difficulties caused by the current economic stress have spurred demand for tech solutions that focus on budgeting, savings, and financial management. And FIs increasingly perceive open banking as an opportunity to offer this broad array of services by connecting with fintechs, per a Tink survey. These third-party integrations are facilitated by providers such as YTS, adding further API calls.

We expect usage of YTS' API to continue expanding thanks in part to nonfinancial firms integrating fintech capabilities—although financial services players' in-house API developments could slow its growth. FIs aren't the only ones doubling down on open banking initiatives.

Over the next decade, the fintech industry expects nonfinancial firms to leverage open banking providers to directly offer financial services on their platforms—presenting new potential clients for YTS. For example, smart energy provider Enel X partnered with Tink to help its customers deal with their energy bills and home-related microinsurance on its platform.

However, some financial services players have developed open banking solutions in-house: Monzo added an open banking-enabled money transfer feature that doesn't rely on an external provider, for instance. And FIs with even larger IT budgets than challengers may see value in launching their own APIs to have more control over the handling of customer financial data, as data privacy is a key concern for FIs adopting fintech solutions. This would remove the need for API calls to go through a third-party open banking provider such as YTS.

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