BCB Open Banking API - Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server

Responsible-Use Notice
Connecting this MCP server grants AI-driven access to live banking operations.
By using these endpoints you accept full responsibility for any actions taken and acknowledge the associated risk of using AI.

Operational Impact – With write privileges the AI can initiate transfers and other transactions.
Data Handling – Sensitive financial data may be processed by AI models; safeguard it accordingly.
Access Control – Issue credentials only to personnel you explicitly authorize.
Read-Only Preferred – Keep production credentials in read-only mode unless write access is essential.
Human Verification – Manually review and approve all AI-suggested transactions before execution.

This integration is experimental and provided “as-is.” Use at your own risk and implement appropriate safeguards.

Overview

The BCB Open Banking API MCP (Model Context Protocol) Server exposes Bermuda Commercial Bank's Open Banking REST API through the Model Context Protocol, enabling AI assistants like Claude to interact with banking services through natural language.

This implementation provides secure, authenticated access to:

Account information and balances
Transaction history and details
Foreign exchange quotes
Internal transfers between accounts
Payment and transaction status tracking

Architecture

The MCP server acts as a secure proxy between AI assistants and the BCB Open Banking API:

Claude Desktop ↔ MCP Server ↔ BCB Open Banking API ↔ T24 Core Banking

Key Components

Tools: Direct API operations (get account, make transfer, etc.)
Prompts: Template interactions for common banking scenarios
Proxy Service: Secure authentication and request forwarding
Authentication: OAuth 2.0 client credentials flow

Prerequisites

Before setting up the MCP server for your LLM client, Claude in this example, ensure you have:

Claude for Desktop - Latest version installed
Node.js - Latest version (At least 22) installed
mcp-remote package - Install globally: npm install -g mcp-remote
BCB API Credentials - Valid client ID and secret from BCB
Network Access - Ability to reach BCB's API endpoints

Installation & Configuration

Step 1: Install Required Dependencies

# Install mcp-remote globally
npm install -g mcp-remote

# Verify installation
mcp-remote --version

Step 2: Configure Claude Desktop

Edit your Claude Desktop configuration file:

Location:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows: %APPDATA%/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "Bermuda Commercial Bank": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "mcp-remote",
        "https://bcb-openbankapi-mcp-dev-a8chdsb5bedzbtb4.eastus2-01.azurewebsites.net/sse",
        "--header",
        "Bcb-Client-Id:${CLIENT_ID}",
        "--header",
        "Bcb-Client-Secret:${CLIENT_SECRET}"
      ],
      "env": {
        "CLIENT_ID": "your_actual_client_id",
        "CLIENT_SECRET": "your_actual_client_secret"
      }
    }
  }
}

Important Configuration Notes:

Replace your_actual_client_id and your_actual_client_secret with your BCB-provided credentials
The MCP server URL shown is for development

Step 3: Restart Claude Desktop

After saving the configuration file, completely restart Claude Desktop to load the new MCP server connection.

Available Tools

The MCP server exposes the following banking operations:

Account Management

bcb_get_account_details - Get comprehensive account information
bcb_get_all_accounts - List all customer accounts with pagination

Foreign Exchange

bcb_get_fx_quote - Get real-time currency conversion quotes

Transfers & Payments

bcb_make_internal_transfer - Execute transfers between customer accounts
bcb_get_payment_status - Check status of specific payments

Transaction History

bcb_get_account_transactions - Retrieve account transaction history
bcb_list_payment_statuses - Get paginated payment status list

Template Prompts

The server includes pre-built prompt templates for common scenarios:

FX Quote Assistant

Guides users through foreign exchange quote requests with structured parameters and explanations.

Internal Transfer Prompts

Provides templates for various transfer scenarios with proper validation and confirmation flows.

Transaction Analysis Prompts

Helps users analyze transaction patterns, categorize expenses, and generate financial insights.

Usage Examples

Account Information

Get Specific Account Details:

Show me the full details for my account 10000162925

List All Accounts:

List all my BCB accounts and show total balance by currency

Foreign Exchange Quotes

Simple FX Quote:

How much would 100 USD be in GBP according to BCB right now?

Detailed FX Request:

BCB FX quote assistant: please convert 100 USD into EUR and explain the result

Internal Transfers

Basic Transfer:

Make internal transfer 0.25 USD from my checking account 10000162925 to savings account 10000162926. Add end-to-end ID SALARY-JUNE and note 'Salary savings' as remittance

Transfer with Status Check:

Make internal transfer 0.15 USD from my checking account 10000162925 to savings account 10000162927. Add note 'Salary savings EUR'. Check transaction status afterwards.

Transaction Analysis

Recent Transactions with Analysis:

Please list the most recent 20 transactions for my BCB account 10000162925. Once you have the data, please: Group the transactions by calendar month and show total debits, total credits, and net flow for each month. List the five largest debit transactions (amount, date, narrative). Give me an overall summary of spending patterns and any notable spikes

Payment Status Tracking:

Show me the 20 most recent payment statuses for my BCB account 10000162925, then group them by status and show totals for each status

Pagination

For large result sets, use follow-up prompts:

get next 20 transactions

Security Considerations

Authentication Flow

MCP server receives request from Claude
Extracts client credentials from headers
Obtains OAuth token from BCB token endpoint
Forwards authenticated request to BCB API
Returns response to Claude

Data Protection

All API communication uses HTTPS/TLS encryption
Client credentials are passed via secure headers
Authentication tokens are short-lived
Sensitive account data is not logged

Access Control

Each client has specific API permissions configured by BCB
Read-only credentials can be issued for query-only access
Transfer/payment capabilities can be disabled per client
IP restrictions can be applied to client credentials

Error Handling

The MCP server provides user-friendly error messages for common scenarios:

Authentication Failures: "Invalid credentials" or "Access denied"
Insufficient Permissions: "Operation not permitted for this client"
Invalid Account Numbers: "Account not found or not accessible"
API Limitations: "Request rate limit exceeded" or "Service temporarily unavailable"
Validation Errors: Specific field-level validation messages

Monitoring & Logging

The MCP server logs all operations for audit and troubleshooting:

Request Logging: All API calls with sanitized parameters
Performance Metrics: Response times and success rates
Error Tracking: Detailed error logs with context
Security Events: Authentication attempts and failures

Logs are structured for easy analysis and compliance reporting.

Limitations & Constraints

API Rate Limits

MCP client requests are subject to the same rate limits, quotas, and usage policies as the standard REST API
For all lists operations, number of returned records is limited to 25 records per page

Functional Limitations

Payment initiation limited to internal transfers
Historical data availability depends on account age
Some account types may have restricted API access

Technical Constraints

Configuration changes require Claude restart
Large transaction sets require pagination

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

MCP Server Not Loading:

Verify claude_desktop_config.json syntax is valid JSON
Check that mcp-remote is installed globally
Ensure network connectivity to MCP server URL
Restart Claude Desktop completely
Check the Claude Logs (if you have NVM installed this can cause issues)

Authentication Failures:

Verify client ID and secret are correct
Check that credentials haven't expired
Confirm IP address is whitelisted (if applicable)
Validate account permissions with BCB

Unexpected Responses:

Check account numbers are accessible to your client
Verify date ranges are within allowed limits
Ensure requested operations are permitted for your client type
Review BCB API documentation for parameter requirements

Support Resources

For technical issues:

Check BCB API status page for service interruptions
Validate configuration against this documentation
Contact BCB technical support with specific error messages

Development & Testing

Test Environment

Development MCP server: https://bcb-openbankapi-mcp-dev-a8chdsb5bedzbtb4.eastus2-01.azurewebsites.net/sse
Test credentials available from BCB for development

For questions about this integration, contact BCB's support team.