From real-time bank reconciliations to automated reports, APIs are great allies of businesses and in companies of different sizes. These technological tools bridge different systems and software, allowing automation and efficient data exchange between them, what provides more financial visibility, quality and efficiency to internal operations
In retail, consumers use multiple forms of payment, from cards to bank transfers, it is precisely the payment gateway APIs that simplify this reconciliation and allow a store to offer so much variety at checkout. With their help, the finance department can automatically monitor the status of payments and identify any discrepancies between sales made and amounts received
For retail companies, the main advantages include operational efficiency, time saving, data centralization and agile decisions. But one of the biggest attractions of APIs is the ability to automate repetitive and time-consuming processes, how bank reconciliation. Connecting the financial systems of stores to the banks' platforms, they allow transactions — like transfers, payment to suppliers and monitoring of balances — occur and be automatically recorded, claims Ticiana Amorim, CEO and founder of Aarin, first tech-fin hub specialized in Pix and Embedded Finance in Brazil
This not only streamlines financial control, but also reduces the risk of fraud, allowing for a more rigorous analysis of payment data. For companies, this security is essential in a scenario where the volume of transactions grows every day
Ticiana claims, yet, that companies using digital accounting systems can use APIs to automatically integrate accounting entries, organizing income and expenses and reducing the time spent on manual entries. "It's like having a live control panel of the cash register". "The possibility of constantly updating and checking the balance is a differentiator that helps identify where adjustments are needed", highlights Ticana
The acronym API comes fromApplication Programming Interfaces(or application programming interfaces, in Portuguese, and Brazil is the fourth country that creates the most APIs in the world. Only in 2023, they were 5,45 million programs of this type in Brazilian territory, according to the reportState of the API 2023, carried out by Postman. "With the growth of API development, the future of retail is becoming increasingly connected, efficient and dynamic, Ticiana finishes
