The use of open application program interfaces is a practical way for credit unions to supply members with faster, convenient access to funds, financial resources and payment vehicles, especially when combating nontraditional financial players.
“In providing the payments engine for credit unions, the open API really gives them the ability to control their destiny and provide the consistent member experience across multiple devices,” Marcell King, chief revenue officer for the Rocky Hill, Conn.-based digital payment provider Payveris, said.
He added it allows financial institutions to accelerate the innovation of new products and services related to payments.
King explained Payveris gives financial institutions the ability to provide payment services through any device and application, whether it is in-house, like their digital banking service, or an external application, like a business accounts payable tool or debt consolidation tool.
In the past, experiences built specifically for the desktop did not translate smoothly to mobile banking.
“The great thing about an API is that it can connect to a screen built for the desktop or a mobile device, and also allows speed to innovation because it doesn't confine you to a specific form factor,” King added.
In addition, an open API provides flexibility across multiple areas within the institution and does not limit users to just one use case. For example, Payveris created an API for a pay by photo tool, which integrates into its overall payments engine. This allows users to capture the details of a bill from their phone, store the payee information in the engine, and access that information from a desktop or mobile device.
The $1.7 billion, Richland, Wash.-based Gesa Credit Union implemented the Payveris platform three years ago as part of its omnichannel strategy to unify its money movement platform.
“We were looking for a platform that had an integrated bill pay, A2A and P2P solution,” Gesa CIO/COO Raj Bandaru explained.
Gesa selected Payveris for its latest technology platform with open API architecture.
“The goal was to consume the money movement widgets where it made sense. We were also looking for a device agnostic technology platform at a reasonable price point,” Bandaru noted.
Read a full account of open APIs in the Aug. 24, 2016 print issue of Credit Union Times.
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Roy Urrico
Roy W. Urrico specializes in articles about financial technology and services for Credit Union Times, as well as ghostwriting, copywriting, and case studies. Also: writer/editor of a semi-annual newsletter for Association for Financial Technology since 1997 and history projects funded by the U.S Interior Department, National Park Service and Warren County (N.Y.).
