The truth is, that fintech payments can be a minefield of different data requirements depending on how you want to send money. Here are some points, which you may not have realised could help to make payments more straightforward, saving you and your customers valuable time.
Knowing the data requirements for different payment systems could save valuable time. Learn more by downloading the latest white paper: How to Build a Transactional Banking Fintech Service
Local payment systems
Local payment systems such as Faster Payments, SEPA or ACH have unique bespoke data requirements to submit payments. Most banking-as-a-service (BaaS) providers simplify this via their Application Programming Interface (API) but there is no standardisation between providers. This means if you are using more than one you’ll need a service provider management module within your application to standardise the message flow across providers.
Cross border payment systems
Cross border payments are sent via SWIFT, a global protocol which is at least standardised. However, you must consider (and build) the ability to submit intermediary bank details alongside end beneficiary details. Intermediary bank details refer to a specific correspondent bank who processes a payment on behalf of the sending bank. This is an additional step compared to local payments.
Try not to rely heavily on referencing as often there are multiple institutions involved to pass your payment to its final destination, resulting in loss of those references.
Standardisation across multiple banks or BaaS providers
If you are using multiple banks or BaaS providers you also need to think about standardising payment transactions across providers.
For example, Bank A may require you to submit instructions in the following order: amount, currency. But Bank B requires the beneficiary details, the amount, and then the currency.
It may not sound that complicated, but it will immediately create unnecessary and unwanted complexity for your customers.
What are the characters you must or cannot use?
This may sound like an unimportant point but is, in fact, essential to know. You must pay attention to any character limits, restrictions, or requirements, and reflect those in your own software. If you don’t, you will be inundated with error messages every time you submit a payment to a provider. This is not only frustrating, but more importantly, a complete waste of time.
The lesson here is to familiarise yourself with the different data requirements for different payment types and to make sure you keep updated as developments occur. To learn more about data requirements in fintech services, download our latest white paper, “How to Build a Transactional Banking Fintech Service” free of charge. Alternatively you can contact us to speak to an advisor.
