Pressured businesses are on the edge to provide support to the increasing volume of cross-border transactions as eCommerce continues to and will grow, even after the pandemic ends; an efficient and effective utilization of APIs is a better way.
Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) has the ability to aid in streamlining cross-border payments operations and address the most complex cross-border payments frictions, such as authentication, payments processing and regulatory compliance.
FINDINGS FROM THE NEW SINGULARITY: LEVERAGING API INNOVATION FOR CROSS-BORDER ECOMMERCE GROWTH
The PYMNTS and USEND collaborative study shows how APIs can be utilized to enhance cross-border eCommerce. The study examines the use of APIs to improve cross-border payments efficiencies and security.
APIs help deliver more streamlined business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) payments and enhance efficiency in payment transactions. APIs’ connective capabilities allow businesses to integrate their payments systems more easily with third-party payment service providers (PSPs). PSPs then access bank data or data in a business’s existing enterprise resource planning (ERP) software or accounting system and use it to streamline and even automate the payments processes they provide. APIs can access payment beneficiary information, validate beneficiary bank details and apply and adjust exchange rates, addressing several cross-border frictions in one simple step once a payment or invoice is approved.
Also, APIs ease regulatory woes and help eradicate many cross-border compliance problems. An API solution can provide instant access to critical regulatory information by responding to a specific query and inputting the relevant data. When integrated into banking systems, customer relationship management (CRM) software and other digital platforms, regulatory compliance APIs can deliver automated cross-border compliance at any phase of an eCommerce transaction.
APIs help eCommerce businesses alleviate cross-border payment frictions, enhance the end-user-experience and keep transactions transparent, simple and secure. When users interact with a platform or a mobile application, API algorithms store personal information about users and their behavior. Enterprises can then use this data to personalize their services and products or to create new businesses. They can also use APIs to gather data and predict consumer behavior, providing insight into new business opportunities as users interact with a mobile app or website.