In this conversation, Jon Scheele interviews Abhijit Dey, VP of API Banking at Axis Bank, about Open Banking and Embedded Finance in India. They discuss the growth of Open Banking in India, the role of APIs in the banking industry, and the impact of digital transformation on customer experience. Abhijit shares his insights on the future of Open Banking, the importance of API governance, and the skills required to be an API Product Manager.

Keywords
open banking, embedded finance, India, APIs, digital transformation, customer experience, API product manager

Takeaways

• Open banking is growing in India, with banks becoming API-first and adopting digital public infrastructure to increase financial inclusion.
• APIs are becoming a revenue stream and a way to offer hyper-personalized customer experiences.
• API product managers need to have a technical understanding of APIs and a design thinking mindset to identify and solve customer problems.
• Success metrics for API product managers include adoption, revenue generation, and customer engagement.
• The future of open banking depends on API governance and the ability to build APIs that address specific use cases.
• Aspiring API product managers should learn how APIs work and focus on customer-oriented innovation.

Sound Bites

"APIs will be created or technologies will be built in the blink of an eye."
"API Sprawl: The more digitized our ecosystems are getting, the more we are building APIs."
"The future of open API banking is very bright."


Chapters

00:00 Introduction: Open Banking and API Banking in India
04:08 Setting up the API Function at Axis Bank
07:01 The India Digital Stack and its Impact on the Indian Economy
12:43 The Future of Open Banking and API Banking
26:51 The Importance of Governance and Framework in API Banking
30:35 Building a Career as an API Product Manager

Link to Abhijit’s presentation at apidays Singapore 2024:

API Productisation: Shift RIGHT to better product resilience
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOy5vCS7kAY


Links to Abhijit’s articles:

Roles of API product managers beyond the conventional product management responsibilities
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/roles-api-product-managers-beyond-conventional-management-abhijit-dey/

The Red Flags of API Sprawl: What to Watch For
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/red-flags-api-sprawl-what-watch-abhijit-dey-o5hxf/

Untangling API Sprawl: Understanding the Causes of Integration Chaos
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/untangling-api-sprawl-understanding-causes-integration-abhijit-dey-ytoaf/