Citi: Pre-Validation Can Speed Cross-Border Payments

Demand for real-time payments is on the rise around the globe, and financial, tech and retail players are angling for a chance to more easily leverage them. As the Federal Reserve deliberates over launching its own faster payments rail, tech companies and retailers like Google and Amazon are advocating for the Fed to create application programming interfaces (APIs) enabling third parties to tap into and leverage the payments system for new services and products.

But companies aren’t just looking to use APIs to transfer money domestically. In the February “B2B API Tracker ,” a collaboration with Red Hat, PYMNTS examines the latest developments in the space, including new efforts to use APIs to streamline cross-border payments.

Around the B2B API World

The bank consortium Joint Electronic Teller Services Ltd (JETCO) launched Hong Kong’s first API exchange, a platform intended to facilitate cross-border trade and payments, as well as to help users collaborate and develop new products, with more than 200 APIs.

UnionPay International is also working to facilitate international trade. The company recently launched a platform that enables developers to access APIs for many of its cross-border mobile payment products.

Meanwhile, U.K.-based open banking platform Railsbank Technology Ltd has teamed up with U.S.-based Cross River Bank to provide banking-as-a-service (BaaS) through a single API interface. The partnership enables the companies to use each other’s platforms and integrate their offerings internationally.

Read these and the rest of the latest headlines in the Tracker.

Cross-Border Payments’ Pre-Validation Push

As financial institutions (FIs) work to shuttle funds across borders, simple banking errors can trip them up, wasting time and money. An incorrect recipient account number, a mismatch between account holders’ names and numbers and other errors can cause the payment to fail — and then be routed back to the sender, incurring fees for all the FIs it traveled through, leaving the intended beneficiary hanging.

But pre-validating the transaction information before initiating payments could alleviate these pain points. In fact, 17 banks are piloting an API-based pre-validation program from SWIFT intended to do just that. In this month’s feature story, PYMNTS caught up with Manish Kohli, global head of payments and receivables with Citi’s Treasury and Trade Solutions, who explained how Citi prepared for the pilot and how it could reduce costs and friction for customers and FIs alike.

Find the full feature story in the Tracker.

Deep Dive: How APIs Help B2B Marketplaces Serve Sellers and Buyers

B2B marketplaces are becoming a popular place for corporate buyers to quickly and easily peruse offerings from a variety of sellers all in one place, and are being used for everything from booking travel to purchasing office supplies. While marketplaces can be a lucrative operation, platform providers need to ensure processes are quick and convenient in order to keep buyers and sellers coming back.

In this month’s Deep Dive, PYMNTS explores how APIs can help platforms deliver a  smoother payment experience and offer other conveniences such as tracking the shipping status of purchased goods.

About the Tracker

The “B2B API Tracker ,” a collaboration with Red Hat, 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.