Have you been curious about how debtor statuses like credit limits appear based on filter options within an administration? These simple, but critical tasks within an administration are made possible through APIs.
An API, or Application Programming Interface, is a set of rules and protocols that defines how two pieces of software can communicate with each other. An API allows one piece of software to request information or perform certain actions on another piece of software.
In the context of credit management software, an API might be used to allow the software to communicate with other financial systems or databases. For example, the credit management software might use an API to retrieve information about a customer’s credit history or to update a customer’s account balance. The API acts as a bridge between the credit management software and the other systems, allowing the software to access and manipulate data in those systems.
APIs are commonly used in software development to allow different systems to interact with each other and exchange information. They are an important part of many modern software applications and can be a powerful tool for building complex and integrated systems.
APIs allow interoperability of platforms across business units, reduce manual processes, and empower data analysis. APIs are essential to speed up access to data, allowing queries to pull specific pieces of information without downloading and transferring large files of bulk data.
The benefits of APIs in credit management
- Task automation – With businesses creating an increasing amount of data, relying on the data for operations, and analysing the data for strategic decisions, there is an increasing need to navigate the data produced on different platforms. Cleaning, filtering, transferring, and analysing data often requires several steps to complete a single operational task, such as matching an overdue invoice to a customer’s payment promise history. Businesses often maintain many legacy processes that require manual intervention and tend to be resource-intensive and risk-prone. APIs can automate many of these processes, reducing the need for unwieldy, shared spreadsheets and eliminating risks associated with manual data entry.
- Maximising IT resources – APIs can open up the available menu of platforms that serve a business’s needs. APIs can also extend the life cycle of existing services and platforms by connecting the functionality of a new platform to a legacy service, creating new functionality and forward compatibility.
- Risk management – The trend within financial services that has seen financial services firms become more like IT companies due to increased amounts of data highlights a growing case to automate the risk controls necessary for sound financial stewardship. IT solutions that include robust API ecosystems can add tremendous risk-management value to financial businesses – the automation possibilities can reduce the risks that manual processes create while allowing for greater auditing visibility and new auditing capabilities. In an era of data expansion, the speed at which an API can provide insights into real-time risks can empower enterprises to be nimbler in responding to emerging threats.
CreditManager and the API Marketplace
CreditManager customers benefit from the API modules available via our Marketplace. CreditManager’s API modules can help automate and accelerate data exchanges with your internal systems, such as existing ERPs, and with external partners, such as credit agencies. Integrating credit information, risk profiles, and payment links can help centralise and inform decision-making and optimise your credit management process. Some critical tasks that can be completed via CreditManager’s API modules include but are not limited to:
- Filtering for open invoices
- Adding a payment request
- Retrieving all payment request statuses
- Sending emails
- Retrieving all workflow actions for an administration
- Creating a payment promise for a specified debtor
Digital transformation and the future of APIs
Decentralised work environments have underscored the need for enterprises to create better strategies for how they organise and utilise data going forward. The trend toward remote work has been a catalyst, forcing managers to move on from status quo, manual processes and implement automation. As more tasks become automated with APIs, the possibility of future integration compounds.
The role of APIs in an organisation’s IT framework and SaaS products is only poised to grow as intuitive business solutions, powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning, allow for better strategic planning and predictive risk management. For financial services, APIs that connect financial information to machine learning and AI solutions will likely increase the accuracy of payment and revenue predictions, prescribe more intelligent KPIs, and optimise the customer experience.
The ability to connect and exchange information between solutions through APIs is becoming the standard. Our APIs allow you to exchange CreditManager data with your own applications or third parties, even as part of your workflows. We are constantly expanding our API connection possibilities, so please contact us if you want to know what our APIs can do for you.
