If you build it, will they come? Hundreds of banks have already launched open banking API developer portals, some in response to regulatory mandates (e.g., UK Open Banking, PSD2) with others taking a market-driven approach to maximize business value from APIs. Open APIs must be productized and marketed like any other traditional banking product. In essence, there is little business value in creating an API library if you don’t make it easily accessible via a developer portal and related API-enabled ecosystems like partner programs and customer-facing marketplaces. Banks looking to grow their developer, partner, or marketplace API ecosystems should consider how effectively they are managing those ecosystems.

Constellant, headquartered in Austin, Texas, coined the term EMaaS to describe its solution to create, manage, and scale digital business ecosystems, including developer, partner, and marketplace ecosystems. In a nutshell, Constellant helps firms to increase developer engagement, accelerating revenue and innovation opportunities. Constellant offers its ecosystem management software platform, called dpEngine, to simplify and streamline every stage of the developer, customer, and partner lifecycle. For those firms looking for help in managing their business ecosystem, Constellant offers a managed services solution to deliver its domain expertise cost-effectively on a subscription basis.

For banks just starting their API journey, Celent recommends that they think carefully about the developer experience as they develop their strategy and grow their open banking API ecosystem. Banks frustrated with the level of developer or partner engagement with their open banking portals should take a critical look at how effectively they are managing those ecosystems. Historians of technology know that in the early days of a new development, many firms develop bespoke methods to address a novel need. As the ecosystem matures, third parties step in to industrialize the process and devote significant resources to improving it, based on lessons learned from multiple companies. We suspect that as API developer management moves along this path, Constellant will be facing competition in the not-too-distant future.