Technical documentation and APIs at ABN AMRO
By: Abn Amro
Tags: APIs, Abn Amro, Innovation, Technical Documentation

Technical documentation and APIs at ABN AMRO

By Brendan Lynch

Technical documentation has never been more important as it is today. One of the main reasons for this is the Covid-19 pandemic. More people are working from home than ever before, and this increases the need for good quality content. It is no longer possible to walk up to someone in the office with a query. Now you need to align schedules, book digital meetings and hope that you find the information you need.

We are in the midst of the digital age, but our personal interactions with colleagues, providers, and customers have changed dramatically. This is having a big impact on banks and other financial institutions. As one of the leading banks in the Netherlands, ABN AMRO is developing and prioritizing Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). APIs are the backbone of online commerce, and they bind today’s digital ecosystems.

SmartBear’s State of API Report 2020

For the third time since 2016, SmartBear, a company that delivers tools for software development, API testing, and API management, has released its State of API Report 2020. This report states that the two most important factors for developers when evaluating API tools are ease of use and ease of implementation. This goes hand-in-hand with technical documentation. Information needs to be concise, consistent, searchable, and easy to understand. It plays a vital role in the success of all areas in any organization.

Another finding is that more emphasis is being placed on source control tools (SCM), such as Git, GitHub, and Bitbucket, and also on API documentation tools. This aligns with a docs-as-code approach, applying software development processes and tools to technical documentation. Some of the benefits of using this approach, and the tools associated with it, include version control, automation, and collaboration. The goal of good documentation is to make processes easier, and not more difficult.

One of the most significant changes between the report in 2016 and this year’s report, is the rising importance of documentation for API consumers. In the 2016 report, only 25% of respondents selected documentation as an important characteristic for APIs. This year, accurate and detailed documentation was the second most important characteristic, with 63% of respondents choosing it. The first being ease of use. This is why companies around the world are realizing the importance of technical documentation and investing more in Technical Writing.

Innopay Open Banking Monitor

Innopay is a consultancy firm that specializes in digital transactions. They follow the developments of and analyze the Open Banking landscape. According to their most recent report, in order to be successful, banks need to offer high-quality documentation and developer tools, provide access to APIs and sandboxes, and grow and nurture their Open Banking community.

The image above is from Innopay’s Capability Model analysis, and it reveals best-in-class banks in each category. As you can see, ABN AMRO ranked second for API documentation. There is a lot of work going on to improve all the documentation related to APIs. This effort is not only improving the content, but it is also streamlining the documentation publishing process. This is where investment in technical writing provides an advantage, and this effort is being recognized.

ABN AMRO is focused on improving community development efforts, increasing focus on business-minded visitors, and creating high-quality API documentation. All of these are necessary to create a better Developer Experience.

Find out more

If you would like to read SmartBear’s report, you can download a free copy after entering some basic information. Click State of API 2020 Report to find out more. For more information on the Innopay Open Banking Monitor report, click here.

To find out more about ABN AMRO’s APIs, visit our new Developer Portal!