3 benefits of cross-border payment APIs

Cross-border payment APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) help businesses, banks, platforms and financial institutions scale their capabilities quicker, streamline their payment processes and ultimately grow revenues.

That’s great for business - but the key benefit of using value-adding APIs is really for your customers. By being able to integrate additional products and services you can deepen customer engagement and reach new markets - while maintaining the integrity of your brand, and removing many of the risks, costs, and delays which can creep in when building out new functionality in-house.

As a specialist in cross-border payments and multi-currency account services, here at Wise we know how impactful introducing cross-border payment APIs can be for a broad range of businesses working across banking, tech, bill pay, expense management and more. Here are some key takehomes if you’re wondering how cross-border payment APIs may benefit your company.

Contact Wise today to find out how you can scale your FX offering to customers today. Get in touch.

Better control and visibility over FX transactions - for your customer and your business

Use a cross border payment API to securely send, receive, manage and spend dozens of currencies, with better exchange rates, more transparent fees, and faster delivery times compared to banks.

Sending and receiving money through the systems favoured by traditional banks can be slow, expensive and opaque. Using a modern alternative can allow you to offer your users or customers cheaper and more transparent FX payment fees by leveraging the power and coverage of local payment rails.

While banks tend to rely on the 50+ year old SWIFT network, payment APIs from modern providers like Wise enable real-time access and visibility to more competitive FX rates. In turn, this arms businesses and their customers with the knowledge and data to make smart decisions when it comes to sending, receiving or spending around the world.

Result: faster cross-border payments at a lower cost, industry leading security features, easy access to personal and business multi-currency accounts, and a lower risk of currency exposure.

Did you Know? Wise’s operational and processing costs are significantly cheaper than traditional retail banks meaning you have a reduction in back office costs, leading to a better ROI and increased profits for your business. Add in infinite customisation options - or an easy plug and play experience if you’d prefer - and you can also cut down on development costs while offering more to your customers.

Retain customers by scaling your capabilities and products

Use cross-border APIs to scale your business and retain or grow your customer base. Allow customers to pay in their home currency for goods and services. Offer payments with better exchange rates than they can get with their bank. Or provide multi-currency account solutions to send, spend and get paid like a local from all over the world.

Whether you’re a bank, financial institution or a tech platform, connecting to cross-border payment platforms gives your users or your businesses’ customers access to competitive FX products that are not only cheaper and faster - but offer a better user experience. One you’re proud to offer to new and loyal customers alike.

Platforms like Wise provide all of this as well as embedded, grey or white label services through powerful APIs, which means there’s no need to build out a brand new infrastructure. You retain full control of your brand image while offering additional services which help you connect to new customers and delight those you already have.

Result: Scale to new markets - or expand your reach in those you’re already active in, with additional products and services which align with your brand image, speak to your customer and strengthen brand loyalty.

With Wise Platform, you can offer your users or customers access to multi-currency accounts including local account details in up to 10 currencies. All without needing a licence in that country. Find out more about how we power payment collection with minimal fees here.

Deploy your dev resource more effectively, to innovate quicker while reducing cost and minimising risk

Use cross-border APIs to make adding services faster, cheaper and more future proof. Give your developers the tools they need to maximise their impact and add even more value to your business and customers.

When you’re exploring new avenues for your business it’s natural to want to hold everything close. But going with the instinct to keep all activities in-house can lead to a steeper learning curve for your developers, higher costs and a far slower route to market.

Instead, make the most of third-party partners in the existing payments ecosystem. You don’t need to worry about transforming legacy systems, resulting in a far faster and more seamless roll out with comprehensive implementation, documentation and onboarding processes to support your developers to deliver.

For developers, there’s a wealth of benefits too, including more data collection and reporting capabilities, better automation, and greater flexibility in terms of chosen components. With a fully customisable API like the Wise Platform, you’ll still be able to create the user experience and business functionality you want - with none of the hassle of starting from scratch.

Result: No reinventing the wheel. Speed up implementation, cut costs, and focus on your core business competencies without compromising on the features, functionality or feel of the end result.

One integration, endless benefits to your customers - Wise Platform

Over 13 million customers are already powering their international payments and accounts through integrations with Wise Platform - the world’s biggest instant payment network.

Wise offers fully customisable solutions which can enhance a broad range of businesses - from banks and financial institutions, to businesses and tech companies. In fact, there are as many use-cases as there are users:

• Power payment collection for you or your global customers
• Effortlessly manage up to 50 foreign currency balances
• Exchange currency using the mid-market rate with low, transparent fees
• Offer international debit cards to your users

Banks and businesses partnering with Wise Platform can leverage Wise’s infrastructure to send, receive, and spend money across borders, opening up worlds of possibility for their customers. All of this, from the convenience of their existing user interface.

International borders shouldn’t get in the way of doing business. And like all the best ideas, cross border payment APIs are deceptively simple but enormously powerful. Take a look at how the Wise Platform can transform your business, and get in touch with our team to see how we can develop your use case to create a best in class solution that will grow your revenue and profit and deepen your connection with your customers.