Visa releases Visa Developer and hundreds of APIs
Financial technology welcomes another global player as Visa announced the launch of Visa Developer.
For the first time in the company’s 60-year history, software application developers will get open access to Visa’s suite of payments technology, products and services — which are being transformed into application programming interfaces (APIs) and software development kits (SDKs). Financial institutions, merchants and technology companies will use these technologies to develop consumer-centric products for their customers.
“We have an opportunity to transform global commerce by opening-up access to our global network and supporting our clients, industry partners and innovators in their pursuit of creating new, easier and more secure ways to pay,” said Charlie Scharf, chief executive officer, Visa Inc. “Visa Developer represents not only a new access point to our network, but a new distribution platform for Visa products and services globally.”
According to Visa, key attributes, that separate the program from others, include a globally accessible developer portal, an open platform with hundreds of Visa APIs and SDKs for some of Visa’s popular payment products and capabilities.
FinTech investment, according to an Accenture study, stood at more than $12bn in 2014. Creation of the platform has been a multiyear effort and trial partners include Capital One, CIBC, Emirates NBD, National Australia Bank (NAB), RBC, TD Bank, Scotiabank, TSYS, U.S. Bank and VenueNext.
“The Visa Developer program presents a tremendous opportunity to elevate the global payments and commerce space," said Ruby Walia, head of mobile & online banking, TD Bank Group. "TD looks forward to leveraging this platform to create new ways to deliver exceptional digital experiences to our customers."
On the heels of the announcement, Visa is also hosting a developer summit on 24 February at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.