Everything you want to know about the Rabo Bookkeeping API
Entrepreneurs who have a seamless link between their accounting software and their bank account. So they can have real-time insight into their finances, send payment orders, or have an invoice pre-financed from one on-line environment. Rabobank offers your customer a perfect addition to your platform with the Bookkeeping API. Read more about the benefits for your business and developments related to Rabobank's Bookkeeping API, here.
Interview
Enabling entrepreneurs to use their financial services where they need them at the time. This is a key objective of Rabobank. To this end, we offer various financial products and services through digital links. And we work with a variety of partners. Lead Strategic Partner Management Frans van der Lugt of Rabobank explains.
“"Letting customers decide where to manage their finances"”
'Suppose an entrepreneur is doing their accounting and wants to make payments. Previously, they then had to exit the accounting program, and open the banking environment to send payments from there. Those days are over. Rabobank wants to be present on the channels that the entrepreneur is using for their business operations. Like their bookkeeping package.’
Real-time connection with the bank
'To facilitate this, the bank offers several links to its own products and services. Platform organizations, such as accounting firms, accountants or ERP vendors, can integrate these so-called APIs into their own software and thus establish a real-time connection with Rabobank. This is our response to European legislation stipulating that parties may share banking information with the entrepreneur's consent. It provides the entrepreneur with instant insight into their financial situation. If the entrepreneur is short of cash, then the bank offers embedded financing. Based on their transaction data and using an algorithm, a business owner can have their invoices funded at the touch of a button to gain financial headroom.'
Working with partners enable SMEs to grow
'For these services, Rabobank uses partner companies’ digital channel. By partnering with diverse partners, we can be as relevant as possible for their customers. This is how, in conjunction with our partners, we help SMEs grow. Our goal is to have at least 60 partners connected by the end of 2022.'
Rabobank's bookkeeping link: Choice of 3 APIs
Integrate with Rabobank and communicate directly with your customer's bank account in your accounting software. This is possible using with our accounting link. This link consists of three different APIs.
Business Account Insight
Receive account information, such as transaction details, from your customers with a Rabobank Business Account. Using a fully automated process (using APIs) that supports you in managing your customers' financial records. In this way we can work together to better serve our customers. That's cooperative banking.
Business Direct Debit
Rabobank customers deliver SEPA direct debit orders from their application to Rabobank. Authorization is provided by the end user, in the Rabobank application, to actually send files.
Business bulk payment initiation
Business Account customers submit batch payment orders to Rabobank through the Business Bulk Payment Initiation API. In the Rabobank application authorization is provided by the end user to actually send files.
'Our bookkeeping link offers many opportunities'
'With Rabobank's bookkeeping link, we help SMEs do better business. We do this through partners such as accountants and bookkeepers, and ERP and accounting software vendors. The bookkeeping link provides business owners with real-time visibility into their finances and it becomes easier to make payments from their financial administration. By seamlessly providing banking services in customers’ accounting applications, we can make the lives of SMEs easier. The current bookkeeping link offers more possibilities than those previously used by market parties. It used to be necessary, for example, to download account files manually. In addition, more accounting vendors can now add the new link to their software, allowing even more business owners to take advantage of it.
Peter Potters of InformerOnline:
“"Our customers are eagerly making use of this."”
'We provide tools that enable entrepreneurs to do their own accounting. Among other things, we have a link to the new Bookkeeping API to process bank transactions instantaneously. With the new API link, Rabobank offers a tool that provides a more accurate picture of a company's financial situation, quicker. This is being eagerly used - the majority of our users immediately indicated their desire to use the new link with Rabobank. Many accountants also applied for it. Prior to the link becoming available they had to wait for their clients to upload information. This is no longer necessary with the new link. Furthermore, we see that our customers are making great use of the various functions offered by the new API, such as booking payments. We actually never get questions about how to connect up an entrepreneur's system - it is in fact very straightforward. We are ecstatic that we can offer this to our customers. Using this API, business owners only need to give permission once to Informer to access their financial data. This is in contrast to the PSD2 legislation that requires customer consent every 180 days. In practice, this leads to much confusion about alleged failures. In fact, with the Bookkeeping API, Rabobank is actually innovating beyond what European legislation PSD2 intended.
The solutions for various parties
The Accounting Link provides solutions for accounting parties, accountants and their customers alike. These solutions are shown below.
Accounting Stakeholders
Accounting firms can take a PSD2 license themselves. They must then link to all banks in the Netherlands - or even Europe if they have European growth ambitions. Maintaining all these links including tracking changes is a costly business.
There are also integrators (Pronto, Bizcuit, IBANXS) that have already established PSD2 links with banks. Accounting firms can use these. For these services, one pays a fee, of course. Other accounting firms opt for a hybrid solution.
Accountants
Accountants will have to weigh which financial platforms maximize financial business process support for their clients. Which platforms have the best integrated financial services, the most up-to-date data and the friendliest customer experience, and how these services are priced for value?
End Users
Your clients (end users) don't want to spend time on repetitive work that can be automated. In fact, they just want to be helped by information systems so they can do their jobs more effectively and efficiently. This means: no manual upload of payments or retrieval of files to see if an invoice has already been paid, no checking whether the name and the relevant account number match to prevent fraud. With proper integration of services such as the Accounting Link and SurePay (Name, number verification), these former manual activities are a thing of the past.
Bizcuit uses Rabobank Bookkeeping API for entrepreneurs
‘With our platform we want to make it as easy as possible for entrepreneurs. Rabobank has three good accounting links, all of which are available to our clients. They choose which one best suits their business. Do they want to send payment batches from their accounting package? Link business and private accounts? Or use SEPA direct debits? Then they can choose the accounting link that offers these facilities. This is in high demand, as is apparent from our users. We also see that many business owners like to pay and collect from their accounts package. We then facilitate that, for example through a payment batch or direct debit.'
More Information
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