Financial API and security specialists, APImetrics and Contxt today announced that they have agreed to merge.
The combined business aims to provide banks and payments providers with end-to-end visibility, proactive security measures and monitoring capabilities for their APIs.
The combined operation will extend its support of open banking initiatives worldwide. APImetrics currently monitors the API performance of many open banking brands, including the UK's CMA9, traditional High Street banks, building societies, neobanks and 13 financial data aggregators. The expanded business will extend its monitoring to include conformance with Financial-grade API (FAPI) specifications to ensure regulatory compliance.
The new company will be headquartered in Seattle, with offices in London, Edinburgh, and Portland, The merger is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. The parties expect to complete the transaction by 1st Oct 2023. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"Our shared vision is to provide organizations with a unified platform that combines comprehensive API monitoring with robust security measures," says David O'Neill, CEO of APImetrics Inc. “By offering real-time visibility, proactive security assessments, and actionable insights, we enable businesses to have confidence in all aspects of their API supply chains.”
Mayur Upadhyaya, CEO of Contxt Ltd, adds, "This merger marks a significant milestone for both companies and the API industry as a whole. We will deliver a powerful solution that addresses the critical needs of businesses in creating API products, by focusing on performance, security, and compliance, so API development teams can create business value."
According to Jamie Beckland, president and co-founder of Contxt, “Banks and financial services companies have an expanded regulatory burden to provide openness, but rely on a host of internal and external services that need to work together to create good customer experiences. This merger will allow our customers to quickly identify performance, conformance, and security issues from across the banking API supply chain."
Both companies have experience in the underlying technology that supports open banking. Upadhyaya and Beckland's previous company was a founding member of the OpenID Foundation, contributing to the OAuth protocol. Today, both Contxt and APImetrics participate in OIDF's work to support open banking initiatives.
Finextra has a content sharing agreement with APImetrics, showcasing real-world performance metrics for open banking, fintech and crypto APIs based on thousands of datapoints.