NEW REPORT: B2B Banking’s Tech-Driven Future

B2B banking and payments may share a reputation for being innovation-averse, but that’s changing. The hot-off-the-presses inaugural edition of the PYMNTS.com B2B API Tracker™ explores the evolving world of technology being powered by FinTech APIs. It also includes a directory of top providers, headlines from around the space and an interview with Imran Haider, head of APIs for Wells Fargo, about how APIs are helping banks embrace new, future-facing technologies.

With hundreds of billions of dollars changing hands each year, B2B banking and payments is a big, big deal. According to industry research, the B2B payments industry moves roughly $550 billion each year, making up roughly half of the $1.2 trillion global payments market. 

Despite all that exchange of funds in the B2B market, the banking industry has a reputation for being a bit behind the times technologically — and it may be justified. According to the 2016 Electronic Payments Survey released by the Association for Financial Professionals, the use of checks is actually on the rise in B2B payments, compared to usage levels in 2013. Despite new technological developments, the majority of B2B payments are still made by check, with 51 percent of payments still coming in on good old non-cash paper stock.

But the industry’s reputation for being old-school could have reason to change soon. From innovations like the data-sharing of B2B APIs to the Same Day ACH Network to blockchain innovations, the space is positioned to go in multiple directions as regulations and faster payments initiatives offer new opportunities in speed and efficiency.

Enter the new PYMNTS.com B2B API Tracker™. PYMNTS.com, in collaboration with FI.SPAN, has designed the B2B API Tracker™ to give readers a monthly look at the companies that are introducing new B2B services for payments, cash management and trade finance and foreign exchanges. The Tracker also keeps tabs on the latest news and trends from within the verticals these services impact, including: real estate, insurance, manufacturing and construction, among others.

All in on APIs

Each edition of the Tracker also contains a feature story with insights from thought leaders in the space. The March Tracker, the inaugural issue, features an interview with Imran Haider, head of APIs for Wells Fargo’s API Gateway Channel. Haider told PYMNTS that the company’s investment in APIs is driven by distribution — delivering the financial services customers need, when and where they want them.

“We view new technology like APIs as the next step in distribution,” he said. “It’s really about getting financial services products into any digital experience so you no longer have to come to a bank site to leverage a particular functionality or complete a particular transaction.”

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To download the March edition of the PYMNTS.com B2B API Tracker™, click the button below.

About the Tracker

The PYMNTS.com B2B API Tracker™, a FI.SPAN collaboration, serves as a monthly framework for the space, providing coverage of the most recent news and trends, along with a provider directory highlighting the key players contributing across the segments that comprise the B2B API ecosystem.