Why developer experience matters for financial access
More than a billion people worldwide still lack access to basic financial products like checking accounts, credit cards, mortgages, and payments. The World Bank defines financial inclusion as giving individuals and businesses access to affordable financial products that meet their needs — and many of the unbanked are women, people in poverty, and those outside major cities.
Open Finance (or Open Banking) is one approach banks such as NAB (National Australia Bank) are taking to widen access. The model lets customers and trusted partners like fintechs exchange data and services securely with banks, with APIs acting as the standardized contract between applications. Once that contract is secured, it can be used anywhere to share data or initiate transactions, lowering barriers for people who have limited physical access to traditional banking.
The quality of those APIs — and the developer experience around them — is what determines how well this works. And developers who find meaning in their work, particularly by making an impact beyond their own company, are often the ones building these solutions. GitHub sits in a position to support that work, with a platform used by 100 million developers and a reputation as the home of open source.
Four ways GitHub supports inclusion-focused development
Build solutions that reach more people
Developers are motivated by creating things that help others. To make sure those solutions have the widest reach, they should be built in the open. Since open source underpins more than 90% of the world's software, there's a real opportunity to collaborate globally and build on work that already exists, rather than reinventing it.
Run hackathons that connect communities
Events like the Global Open Finance Challenge, which NAB collaborated on and an Australian startup won, give developers a way to share ideas with peers and large enterprises. They also expose what APIs are currently available and spark innovation with a global reach. Successful hackathons depend on having open-sourced code and documentation accessible in one place.
Recognize and support contributors
Developers working on financial inclusion deserve recognition for their effort. A single platform where that work can be shared is essential — and it needs to be freely available to any developer anywhere. Recognition alone isn't always sufficient, which is why programs like GitHub Sponsors and GitHub for Startups exist to provide direct support to contributors, including many fintechs building open banking tools.
Prioritize documentation
An API is only as useful as its documentation. If developers can't quickly grasp the context, figure out how to connect, or test it easily, adoption will suffer. Collaboration on documentation is a key enabler for Open Finance, and platforms that support that collaboration show measurable gains — GitHub has seen at least a 50% increase in productivity when developers follow documentation best practices.
Where developers can plug in
Financial inclusion efforts are underway in Australia, New Zealand, India, and elsewhere, and the opportunity for developers to contribute is significant. GitHub offers the tools and services to support that work. For those interested in learning how developers across the community use the platform while staying compliant and governed, GitHub hosts a weekly livestream on LinkedIn Live called GitHub in my Day Job at https://gh.io/dayjob.
