Starling Bank launches open banking hackathon
UK challenger bank Starling is to host its first hackathon, opening up its API to outside developers.
According to Starling, the hackathon makes it the first UK licenced bank to launch a public API in keeping with the ambitions of the Second Payment Services Directive (PSD2) and the open banking initiative.
Megan Caywood, chief platform officer at Starling Bank, says: “We recommend that anyone applying bring their best ideas because all successful entrants to our hackathon will get to pitch and demonstrate their concept to our judging panel of tech innovators and VCs.”
Starling says its public API enables third parties to access customer data (“with their permission, of course”) and build on top of the bank’s platform to create products and services such as chatbots, spending analytics, or connections with the internet of things (IoT).
The open API also underpins Starling’s marketplace model, which is set to launch in March. This marketplace is embedded in its app.
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.
The event will take place at Google Campus in London from 7-9 April and applications can be made here.
Ready trek
The bank is getting ready for its 2017 launch. It has received its UK banking licence, joined Faster Payments last month, got its first batch of debit cards and continues to build its infrastructure.
It has also secured $70 million in funding from Harald McPike, who runs QuantRes, a Bahamas-based private investment firm. Two of Starling’s six board members are QuantRes directors.
For its payments system, the bank uses Bottomline Technologies. The system will include anti-money laundering (AML), know your customer (KYC) and credit checks.
