European banks started years ago to develop Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) for their customers driven by the Payment Services Directive 2 (PSD2) legislation. Nowadays, BaaS is increasingly offered by banks to customers and partners. APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) are used to distribute those services for instance via their developer portal.
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BaaS can be seen as an opportunity for existing banks to reach, directly or indirectly via partners, a greater number of customers and improve the customer experience. On the other hand, it can be a potential threat as BaaS opens up the market for Fintech companies and other non-banking challengers to provide faster and better financial services.
It is difficult to predict how BaaS will grow in the coming years and if it will become a key channel that every bank needs to develop next to their existing web and mobile channel.
According to Future Market Insights (FMI), the BaaS market value will continue to grow from US$ 2.5Bn in 2020 to US$ 12.2Bn in 2031. This is a clear indication there is an opportunity for banks to play an essential role in developing BaaS and exploring new business opportunities.
When TreasurUp was founded seven years ago, we decided to build our platform based on APIs (Application Programming Interfaces). One of the reasons for this decision was based on our vision that technology, particularly APIs, will drive and accelerate the development of open banking and real-time financial services.
First of all, APIs have enabled us to integrate our white-labeled platform fast and seamlessly into a bank’s ecosystem.
Secondly, APIs allow us to connect a bank with its corporate customers. External APIs can provide real-time connectivity in an easy and standardized way.
The first step in leveraging our APIs for external connectivity was by developing an ERP Connection Center, as described in the previous TreasurUpdate by our Innovation Manager Jan-Willem Attevelt. Corporates can easily synchronize their transactional ERP data like payables and receivables. Directly by using our APIs or indirectly via ERP aggregators. Without APIs, integration of the Corporate ERP would have required significant IT integration effort, with usually very little re-usability.
TreasurUp is taking the lead in developing Treasury APIs. We are moving beyond ERP connectivity with our platform by providing valuable Treasury APIs that banks can offer their corporate customers and include them in the bank’s developer portal. Banks can enhance their BaaS offerings with commercial Treasury APIs to enable corporate customers and partners to improve operational efficiency and get real-time insights.
APIs to support the Forex trading process are first on our roadmap. You can think of APIs providing client-specific rates, initiation of new FX trades (spot, forward, swap), early take up or extension of existing trades. One of the key benefits of the TreasurUp platform is its auto-hedging capabilities. The first important step in the auto-hedging workflow is to get payables/receivables data in our platform, which is facilitated by our ERP Connection Center.
On top of that, we have developed additional APIs to trigger the auto hedging process and retrieve the status of the workflow. Also, APIs can add value to retrieve the weighted average FX rate for each payable/receivable and outstanding positions.
For our Cash Visibility & Forecasting module, we will develop APIs to get relevant forecast data in our platform, provide the status of a forecasting cycle and retrieve consolidated exposures or cash flow statements.
TreasurUp will continue to reach out to corporate treasurers and banks to validate our BaaS/API use cases. Based on their feedback, we will set priorities and assess the readiness and value to provide future-proof APIs that can achieve real benefits for the bank and its corporate customers.
We are excited to announce that we will attend the Sibos 2022 in-person event from 10th to 13th October 2022 in Amsterdam. Join us if you want to discover TreasurUp’s online Commercial Banking innovations. We will show you how to enhance digital infrastructure and become more agile by leveraging technology.
At TreasurUp, we truly believe in a partnership model between banks and FinTechs. So let’s grab a coffee and set up a meeting at the Sibos event to get to know you and your business better.
Marien van Baren is TreasurUp’s Co-founder & CTO with a strong IT background and in-depth understanding of Financial and Treasury processes – certified Nive Qualified Treasurer (QT). For him developing the TreasurUp platform and its solutions is an exciting journey where extreme customer focus, leading technology, and great teamwork come together.
His interest lies mostly in information technology and product development positions, focusing on innovation, new technologies, and digitalization. He has broad experience in various IT positions (IT delivery/project manager, architect, analyst, developer) in several businesses.
