How to Choose the Right B2B Payments API Provider for Your Business

By Jay Dahal, Co-Founder of Machnet. Create your funds transfer and international payment products.

Digital businesses are sprouting up all over the map, and the things we always had with us, like cash, now seem obsolete to some.

That's the beauty of humanity: our ability to grow through our experiences.

And with everything the world has been through, we've created systems that provide opportunities for people around the world. "Without borders" has always been a buzzword, because the once unthinkable is just a few clicks away!

Sending payments to another country doesn't have to be complicated or expensive, especially for businesses! Whether you operate in multiple countries or have a diaspora of team members across the globe, sending money should have no borders. According to the World Bank, on average, the overall cost of sending just $200 was 6.5% in Q4 2020.

Think of small businesses that regularly have to pay contractors, or organizations that regularly send or receive relief funds, or two startups wanting to collaborate on different continents. Think of the businesses that need payment rails to power payroll across the globe. That's a lot of manual accounting work for CFOs and accountants without a reliable dashboard powered by a robust B2B API provider. Some even have to send twice because the transaction fee has eaten up some of what they were trying to send. That 6.5% is a huge chunk of profit that could mean the difference between life and death, making the right B2B API crucial for your business.

Unfortunately, not all APIs are created equal. So, before committing to a vendor, check to see if your B2B API can provide your business with features that can equip you for the future. Ask yourself these questions and determine if your supplier is worth every penny.

Can they provide efficient and secure communications?

Until very recently, many industries still believed that the safest way to send data was through fax machines. And while they do the work, an efficient B2B API can do it faster, easier, and more reliably. An effective B2B API should allow you to collect and secure information from different sources through your system. This secure data then becomes "trusted data", which means that it has been screened, found to be free of viruses and has only been transmitted from point A to point A. point B without unnecessary stops.

With this level of data security, you can partner with software vendors to build APIs. And when your internal communications have proven effective and secure, you can standardize that, making it easier for all stakeholders involved.

Does your B2B API compose legacy data?

Data is your best friend! The more you know about the behavior of your customers, partners, and users, the better you can tailor your business to meet their needs. The B2B API you choose should not only collect information, but also understand it. Through this process, they should be able to validate the information and make suggestions to you based on your past and current digital behaviors.

For example, if the API detects that you order coffee from the same place at the same time every day, it can learn this behavior and possibly help you make it more convenient. You can use this information to create services that work better for your end users. Make sure your API can collect and translate this legacy data because...