What is Open Banking?

Open Banking is a regulatory framework that enables authorised third-party systems to connect to your bank securely, with your explicit permission. Through these connections, you can access information, channel communication, or integrate your transacion activity with services that help you achieve more.

The Central Bank of Kenya is actively developing this infrastructure, and banks in Kenya are already participating. It is live, regulated, and designed with the account holder in control.

What is a Notification API?

Every time money moves in or out of your bank account, your bank produces a structured notification message containing detailed transaction information, indlcuding the amount, sender, time, channel, reference, and more. It is generated the moment the transaction happens. This is a transaction notification.

A notification API is the secure channel through which that message reaches an authorised system. Most businesses currently receive a fragment of this as an SMS or Email. A notification API delivers the full, structured payload instantly to whatever person or system needs it.

What is ISO 20022?

ISO 20022 is the global standard that defines how banks structure financial messages when they communicate. Think of it as a universal language: a payment message from a Kenyan bank is formatted identically to one from a bank in Germany or Singapore.

It is what makes transaction data seamlessly machine-readable and interoperable across systems and borders. The Central Bank of Kenya's National Payments Strategy aligns with ISO 20022, which means the data flowing through Kenya's banking system today is globally compatible. Bahasha processes this format natively.

What can my business do with this?

When your business receives real-time transaction notifications, that information is immediately actionable, to unleash automated processes, workflows, and business management decisions.

Route Transaction Messages

Direct real-time transaction notifications to the right person, device, or system the moment they are triggered. Cashiers, managers, logistics teams, or any integrated platform.

Automate Workflows

Use transaction events as triggers for automated business actions. Release goods, send confirmations, update systems, or initiate any downstream process without manual intervention.

Reconcile

Match transactions to records automatically as they arrive. No end-of-day batches, no manual entry, no lag between your bank and your books.

Where does Bahasha fit?

We operate at the information layer of the banking stack. We started by measuring it. Now we are building the tools to put it to work.

APIs Performance

We have live data on how bank notification APIs perform across Kenya's banking network. Dataworks gives you the facts to inform your decision.

Evaluate the APIs Live

APIs Signal Routing

Our zero-knowledge routing service will deliver transaction signals to your people and systems instantly and securely, with no sensitive data stored at any point in the process.

Coming Soon