API aggregators simplify application development by providing a single API in front of multiple different services from different providers, each of which may have its own set of APIs. Industry-specific API aggregators accelerate time to market in many industries such as banking and healthcare. API aggregators reduce the time to market when building applications, because it is faster to use a single API than to integrate directly with many systems using different APIs. They provide a route to market for application providers' offerings. For an application provider without APIs, the API aggregator fills this need by providing prebuilt APIs. This can be an inexpensive way to provide customers or partners with APIs. However, API aggregators bring a layer of disintermediation. Unlike API management, which focuses on governing and securing an organization’s own APIs throughout their lifecycle, API aggregators primarily provide unified access to external APIs. They are increasingly common in industries with some commoditization, such as banking, insurance and SMS messaging and are used by developers and startups who need quick integrations, enterprises and SaaS providers managing multiple APIs.
Gartner defines a core banking system (CBS) as the financial institution’s back‐office software that performs real-time or end-of-day processing for deposits and loans. Apart from advancing the processing dates, representative capabilities include transaction posting, interest accrual/payment, service charge calculation and cash management (zero balance, target balance). CBSs provide deposit and loan product servicing with interfaces to other applications, such as customer-facing channels, general ledger systems and reporting tools. CBSs can be deployed on the bank’s premises or run from the cloud or any hosted environment. Bank employees and customers either directly or indirectly use the bank’s CBS. The CBSs of a financial institution’s back‐office software perform either real-time or end-of-day processing for deposits and loans. Apart from advancing the processing dates, representative capabilities include transaction posting, interest accrual and posting, service charge calculation and cash management (zero balance, target balance). All these processes and steps imply a business model based on conventional banking principles that imply interest accrual on accounts and profitability from any lending practice. Therefore, CBSs, by definition, implicitly exclude Islamic CBSs that, to the contrary, use Islamic financial tools to back Shariah-compliant business models that require different mechanisms to produce profits.
IT Security refers to products and services that protect digital systems and data from cyber threats and unauthorized access. This category includes markets that focus on network security, identity management, data protection, and cloud security, enabling organizations to reduce risk, ensure compliance, and operate securely in a digital world.
Gartner defines the OFD market as the market for solutions that detect and prevent fraudulent actions within digital channels (browsers and mobile apps). OFD solutions provide a spectrum of capabilities within digital channels to prevent direct and indirect financial losses and to mitigate risks. Their core capabilities: Mitigate the activity of malicious automated bots; Detect account takeover (ATO) attacks and trigger remedial actions; Detect fraudulent activity in high-risk events along the digital customer journey, such as when customers make payments, transfer funds, perform account management actions or access personally identifiable information (PII).