An Instant Connection: API Use Cases in Treasury

As we shift towards a real-time treasury, application programming interfaces (APIs) have become an essential technology, enabling data to move instantly and seamlessly between corporates and their banks. As a relatively new technology in treasury, it is not always clear, however, what the API use cases are for capturing real-time cash visibility and maximising process efficiencies.

One of the key benefits of APIs is their ability to provide treasury departments with on-demand visibility over transactions and data held by their banks. In some cases, according to Rita Jardan, Head of CAM Finance, Freeway Entertainment Group (Freeway), using bank APIs can be preferable to using banks’ electronic banking platforms.

“The first advantage of the API approach is that all the data is pushed to the treasurer, rather than the treasury team spending a lot of time and effort going after the data,” she explains. “Tracking receipts is part of our core business. The notification of new receipts to our clients is extremely time-sensitive, so real-time notification is key for us to provide an outstanding level of service. We handle more than 6,000 accounts across 15 banks. Having all the new data in our system without delays is a huge breakthrough.”

Nokia’s treasury implemented APIs for live balances and transactions with five core banks in early 2019, as Daniel Gramunt, Director, Cash Management, Nokia, outlines.

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