BofA On Using APIs To Boost B2B Payments

If some is good, more is better. That seems to be the idea among banks both big and small when it comes to APIs, as several players from around the financial services industry recently increased their investment in APIs, rolling out new solutions aimed at making B2B payments more efficient.

But it isn’t all about efficiency. Several financial institutions are turning to APIs to provide their corporate clients with new products and services that deliver flexibility and put them in control.

In the March B2B API Tracker, PYMNTS takes a look at the latest B2B API news from around the financial services world, including newly debuted solutions from some of the banks in the space.

Around the B2B API World

Over the past month, several banks and FIs looked to go all in on APIs by debuting new technology and solutions of their own via new partnerships.

That includes Chase, which partnered with payment services firm TSYS to offer TSYS’ commercial card payable service, Virtual Payment Precept, to corporate clients of Chase. The solution aims to reduce risk and makes it easier for accounts payable (AP) and receivable (AR) to reconcile transactions.

And Chase isn’t alone. Citi Ventures and PNC Bank recently announced a joint investment in B2B payments and receivables software provider HighRadius. The offering uses artificial intelligence (AI) to automate tasks that typically require human input.

And in the U.K., digital-only FI Starling Bank recently announced it would partner with London-based FinTech Soldo in a move to automate B2B payments. The partnership aims to help users better manage and control B2B spending and reduce the more than $150 billion unreconciled B2B payments currently in the U.K. corporate system.

BofA Banks on B2B APIs

Bank of America Merrill Lynch is one player in the growing group of banks turning to APIs to offer new and more efficient services and products to corporate clients.

In a recent interview with PYMNTS for this month’s B2B API Tracker Feature story, Hubert J.P. Jolly, global head of finance and channels for global transaction services at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, said the company wants to use APIs to both improve existing offerings and debut new ones.

That includes the bank’s recently launched API gateway, designed to provide a digital assistant for the bank’s CashPro platform. Jolly said the solution meets increased demand for more information and data, which aids decision-making by enabling automatic downloading and organization of transaction data.

“In the past, clients would have to manually download the same data every day and rearrange it so they could track it in whichever format they typically use,” he said. “Now, they can just call upon those APIs and download the data in whatever format they want to use. That’s a better service experience for our clients.”

To read the story, along with the latest B2B API headlines and trends, and for rankings of more than 40 top providers, download the Tracker.

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About the Tracker

The  B2B API Tracker 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.