Visa to expand Bangalore centre with API expertise

Top international credit card company Visa plans to expand its Bangalore centre to support the firm's global services, a senior official has said here.

The company will expand the Bangalore Technology Centre of Excellence by using more Application Programming Interface (API) expertise.

In computer programming, an API is a set of subroutine definitions, protocols and tools for building application software.

"We plan to add more APIs as and when we can and understand what the market requirements are," said T R Ramachandran, Group Country Manager for India and South Asia at the Visa Consolidated Support Services (I) Pvt Ltd.

But security, as is the widespread concern in the industry including cyber risks, will be of absolute consideration in taking on API solutions, he asserted.

The Bangalore centre has about 1,100 professional engineers supporting the company's services across the globe and has added more than 200 APIs over the last 2 years.

"We not only have a business presence in India but we have a large technology presence in India," Ramachandran said yesterday underlining the group's commitments to the Indian market and tapping the huge pool of software talent in the country.

He expressed confidence in APIs and Fintech developers, saying "today innovation can come from anywhere".

"We don't want to create products anymore, we want to create standards for everyone," he told reporters.

Ramachandran described India as one of the fastest growing markets for Visa and expressed confidence that electronic services will be strengthened by stronger IT infrastructure following the introduction of 4G and 5G, as well as fibre optic-based networks.

"The opportunities in India are too large for one player to take on," he said.

India is a market with the level playing field with domestic or indigenous service and international companies playing their own roles, he said, dismissing concerns about the tilt to support indigenous credit card services.