CWA 16926-1:2022

A key element of the Extensions for Financial Services is the definition of a set of APIs, a corresponding set of SPIs, and supporting services, providing access to financial services for Windows-based applications. The definition of the functionality of the services, of the architecture, and of the API and SPI sets, is outlined in this section, and described in detail in Sections 5 through 10.
The specification defines a standard set of interfaces such that, for example, an application that uses the API set to communicate with a particular Service Provider can work with a Service Provider of another conformant vendor, without any changes.
Although the Extensions for Financial Services define a general architecture for access to Service Providers from Windows-based applications, the initial focus of the CEN/XFS Workshop has been on providing access to peripheral devices that are unique to financial institutions. Since these devices are often complex, difficult to manage and proprietary, the development of a standardized interface to them from Windows-based applications and Windows operating systems can offer financial institutions and their solution providers immediate enhancements to productivity and flexibility.