Exploring API Side-Hustle Ideas — Part 3: Finance APIs
Make money by helping someone else with their money.
This is part 3 of a multi-part series where I break down APIs and their marketplaces. In this part, I’ll cover APIs related to finance, what types of services exist, who they are aimed at, and some of my speculations for new APIs which could be successful in the future.
- Part 1: What is an API?
- Part 2: Sport APIs
- Part 3: Finance APIs
- Part 4: Travel APIs
- More Coming Soon…
Overview
You don’t need me to tell you that there’s a lot of money in finance. Where there’s money, there tends to be a need for services to make it easier for those involved. The need for financial-related APIs has never been higher as the world moves further towards digital handling of currencies and stocks.
Understanding the end-user
Almost everyone on the planet is involved in the finance sector in some way. From the average person checking their credit score to investment bankers gambling their client's money on the stock market. A successful API needs to have a target audience firmly in their mind from day 1, here I’ve broken down just some of the potential end-users you could provide services for.
Stock traders
Nowadays anyone can invest and trade stocks just by using their mobile. This has completely changed the landscape of financial investing, leaving a huge service void to fill. When creating an API in this sector, it may be worth considering aiming it at these individuals, rather than reinventing the wheel for the traditional investors.
Services Utilising Currency
APIs do not need to provide services directly to the end-user, instead, you can provide value to a number of other services. Whether these are stock trading apps, or even e-commerce websites, helping them provide the best service for their customers will in turn result in more API calls for you.
Companies Looking for an Edge
As detailed in some of the existing APIs below, companies can benefit greatly from an automated understanding of their competitors. This information is difficult to obtain but can be incredibly lucrative for those that are able to.
The Everyday Person
Although your API may not deal with them directly, an average person already requires the help of many different apps, services, and websites in order to handle their finances. Are there any gripes with the services you use? Could you fill in any gaps that might ultimately help you? If the answer to any of those is yes, chances are there are thousands of people with the same issue.
Existing API’s
I’ve previously said that the sports marketplace is the most popular, but I’d also argue that the financial marketplace has the potential to be the most lucrative. As a result, there’s has been huge investment thrown at existing services. Before brainstorming new ideas, I’ll highlight some of the key areas in which these services operate.
Currency Converters
A simple enough concept, the API receives an amount, an original and desired currency, and the correct conversion is done with the latest data. For a website dealing with commercial goods, this could be a crucial system however why would they reinvent the wheel if they can outsource the effort to a reliable API? This API market seems fairly well covered, however with the rise of cryptocurrencies there are surely opportunities to recreate these services in a new environment.
Stock & Cryptocurrency Prices
If you are able to accurately and efficiently handle stock data, there is a tremendous market of individuals, services, and apps that could benefit from your service. The value here is self-evident, and as a result, accurate and up-to-date stock information comes at a large premium to most.
Company Financial Statements
There are a number of APIs which collate and distribute the publicly available financial information of companies. Catering to individuals who want to keep a close eye on the position of their competitors, or even stock traders who want a fuller picture before investing.
(Unusual) Stock Logos
Even in the most imposing sectors filled with the big dogs of the API world, there’s always the opportunity to fill in some of the smaller gaps. This is exactly what an API like this does, removing the image maintenance overhead of websites and apps related to stock prices.
Potential Ideas
No matter how full the API marketplace is, there’s always room for a great idea. With an understanding of who could benefit from your service, and what already exists, here are two areas which I think could contain some new side-hustle ideas.
Anything Crypto
Cryptocurrencies are an incredibly exciting technology, with an ever-increasing amount of interest and investment. I will happily hold my hand up and admit that my crypto-knowledge isn’t sufficient to generate a long list of potential API ideas, however, we’ve seen in the past that technology growth like this enables a lot of opportunities for new services to become highly profitable.
Video Game Markets
This is admittedly a little left-field, but sometimes you have to be outside of the box in order to find new opportunities. Many online games operate their own marketplace, where in-game items can be sold for the equivalent of thousands of dollars. These marketplaces are thriving, with casual users and budding investors looking to trade their way to riches. As a result, there is significant profit to be made from those who are well-versed. Could you take an existing idea in the real world and apply it to an in-game marketplace? If yes, you’ve surely found a winning formula that you can repeat from game to game.
I hope this article has opened your eyes to some of the possibilities within API creation, and more specifically finance-related APIs. For further analysis of other marketplace areas, please check out the other parts of this series.
- Part 1: What is an API?
- Part 2: Sport APIs
- Part 3: Finance APIs
- Part 4: Travel APIs
- More Coming Soon…
