Optimising your payment processes with the fire.com payments API.

Today sees the launch of the fire.com business account payment initiation API. It is a key delivery as it now enables the complete integration of the business account with a business’s systems and internal processes.

For businesses, payment processes can be complicated and error prone. In many cases businesses often create files in order to exchange data between their systems and their bank accounts. This can lead to reconciliation overheads and delays, as data often needs to be reformatted along the way.

In designing the fire.com business account API we have tried to focus on three core functions:

• Read Access – fire.com business customers can have multiple accounts in sterling and euro. Via the read API, businesses can easily create their own applications and display account and transaction details within their own applications.
• Event Driven – the fire.com webhook allows businesses to receive real time data updates as lodgements are received on their accounts – so no need to log in and see if you have been paid – your accounting system is already updated.
• Payment Initiation – with this release businesses may now integrate their own systems to set up payees and initiate bank transfers in sterling and euro from their fire.com account(s).

We hope that these developments will continue to help our business clients to grow as they integrate their systems to the fire.com business account and automate payment processes. Integration guides and documentation are available – https://www.fire.com/docs.

A key aspect of this development has been the security we have implemented. In line with PSD2 regulations and the supporting regulatory technical standards, we have implemented the authorisation and authentication of the payment initiation batches via our firework mobile app. So as a business system commences a process to set up new payees or make outbound payments to staff/suppliers/businesses, notifications are sent to the relevant users via the firework mobile app. These users then authenticate themselves to the app and may then authorise the batches (either payments or payee set up). The use of another channel in this scenario adds to the security of the payment process. The firework mobile app is available in the app stores (iOS / Android) for all business customers.

In addition to the thousands of businesses who now use the fire.com business account as an alternative to a regular current account, there are a number of platforms and alternative finance providers who are using the fire.com API to automate their funds distribution.

If you would like to hear more around how Asset Finance and other companies are using fire.com to manage their payments you can come along to UK Finance’s Invoice Finance & ABL Conference 2018 where our CEO, Colm Lyon, will be speaking.

If you think the fire.com business account API could help your business to grow, get in touch today. You can open a fire.com business account online in as little as 48 hours. As always, we’d love to hear your feedback.

Colm Lyon, CEO fire.com