Citibank Hong Kong boosts API ecosystem with three new partnerships

Watsons, EGL Tours and Fortress will integrate Citi Pay with Points API into their platforms.

Citibank Hong Kong is building on its Application Programming Interface (API) ecosystem with the addition of EGL Tours, Fortress and Watsons.

The three brands will integrate the Citi Pay with Points API into their e-commerce platforms, enabling cardholders to offset online purchases using reward points upon checkout.

To offset online purchases, Citi cardholders need only complete payment, perform a one-time identity verification and select the amount to pay with points.

“Through our ever growing list of API partners spanning different industries, we are moving closer to our ultimate goal of bringing banking services to where customers need them and when they need them," Lum Choong Yu, Head of Cards and Unsecured Lending at Citibank Hong Kong said in a statement.

Citi Hong Kong’s extensive list of other API partners include AIA Hong Kong, Octopus Cards Limited, HKTVmall, Visa, and Zurich Hong Kong. The collaborations involve the use of Citi's Open API technology in various categories covering Cards, Customers, Money Movement, and Onboarding. The new services will be rolled out in phases in the coming year.

"A healthy banking open API ecosystem also requires industry-wide participation. We are fully supportive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA)'s initiative to promote wider adoption of open API in the banking sector and the recent release of the Open API Framework by the HKMA will further accelerate the implementation of this important milestone for the industry and reinforce Hong Kong's position as a leading fintech hub,” Lum added.