
Explanatory notes
The Common API ecosystem consists of four different categories of participants: banks/insurers and customers are trivially always needed. In addition, platform providers and third party providers can create added value.
But what exactly can the service of a platform operator/aggregator be? Various models are possible here: On the one hand, a platform can create direct added value by offering aggregated services, such as access to each customer's account via a multibanking hub. Another form of platform can be an app store, where value-added services are provided via the apps provided in it.
The analogy applies to Third Party Providers (TPPs): these can be Fintechs or Insurtechs that offer innovative services to their customers, e.g. by combining platform services for banking with the connection to an insurance hub. Traditional players, such as a provider of white-label online banking software, can also act as TPPs - or a bank that offers certain services to other banks. The TWINT consortium is another example of a TPP.