Raising the bar: NatWest to launch version 2.0 of Bankline Direct Digital APIs

26 Feb 2025 . 2 min read

The Financial Industry is in a period of great innovation, with the adoption of regulatory ISO 20022 standards and the increasing demand for APIs, creating the need for new use cases to exchange data. With the launch of new and improved Bankline Direct Digital APIs, NatWest is raising the bar to deliver for customers.

After launching a digital transformation programme for Bankline Direct, NatWest’s host-to-host payments and reconciliation solution, and creating Bankline Direct Digital, we are proud to introduce new features for our Bankline Direct Digital APIs.

Our APIs already process millions in volume and billions in value, supporting our corporate and Financial Institutions(FI) customers to solve some of their key operational challenges by enabling the secure transmission and processing of payments data in real time, 24/7.

Delivering on our mission to become the fastest payment and data insight solution in the UK to support the growing demand for real-time payments and reconciliation, we’ve now applied our API experience and knowledge to lift the bar even further with version 2.0.

Corporates can already access all the benefits through version 2.0 of the Commercial Payments & Reconciliation API, while the improved version of the Indirect Access & Notifications API, for our FI customers, will follow in early April.

The improved APIs will include the following features:

Regulatory standardisation enabling scalability and future-proofing of API payments thanks to the new ISO 20022-compliant endpoints we’ve developed, capable of processing new enhanced data requirements in preparation for ISO 20022, offering customers enriched data to facilitate business intelligence.
Simplified onboarding experience by making several onboarding steps, including API certificate generation and client registration, available to be completed digitally within our Bank of APIs portal. This will reduce the onboarding time for one part of the journey from approximately four weeks, to now just 30 minutes.
Provision of a comprehensive sandbox environment to complete validation of ISO 20022 formats before promoting them to their live environment. Going forward, we’re also planning to develop an AI-powered sandbox that will enable customers to complete testing of their configuration end-to-end.

Jonathan Hall, NatWest’s Head of Digital, Commercial & Institutions: “We’re delighted to offer updated versions of our Bankline Direct Digital APIs, marking the next exciting step on our journey to truly become a relationship bank for a digital world. This is a testament to our determination to continue developing smart and secure solutions in support of our customers’ evolving treasury needs.”

Lesley Shield, NatWest’s Head of Transaction Banking, North & Scotland: “Bankline Direct Digital APIs provide the building blocks for digital treasury management systems, helping corporates to navigate the future of payments. Our new and improved APIs address client needs for real-time, secure, and seamless payments and data integration, while supporting treasuries transition their systems to comply with ISO 20022 regulation.”

To find out how Bankline Direct Digital APIs could help your treasury navigate the future of payments, visit our product page: Discover Bankline Direct Digital APIs.

Please note that Bankline Direct is available to NatWest business account customers who meet the specific eligibility criteria. Fees apply.

More Technology insights

This material is published by NatWest Group plc (“NatWest Group”), for information purposes only and should not be regarded as providing any specific advice. Recipients should make their own independent evaluation of this information and no action should be taken, solely relying on it. This material should not be reproduced or disclosed without our consent. It is not intended for distribution in any jurisdiction in which this would be prohibited. Whilst this information is believed to be reliable, it has not been independently verified by NatWest Group and NatWest Group makes no representation or warranty (express or implied) of any kind, as regards the accuracy or completeness of this information, nor does it accept any responsibility or liability for any loss or damage arising in any way from any use made of or reliance placed on, this information. Unless otherwise stated, any views, forecasts, or estimates are solely those of NatWest Group, as of this date and are subject to change without notice. Copyright © NatWest Group. All rights reserved.

Raising the bar: NatWest to launch version 2.0 of Bankline Direct Digital APIs

The improved APIs will include the following features:

Related articles