The advent of numerous digital financial tools has taken the FinTech world by storm; with a number of them being put to use for day to day financial transactions. The ongoing pandemic has fueled the need for banks and financial institutions to embrace a digital strategy that gives users convenient and secure access to their financial data.

“Covid-19 might be just what financial organizations needed to move beyond talking about going digital to implementing digital capabilities broadly across their organization.”- Forbes. 

The Role of Digitization in Banking & Finance

The unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to the growth of the banking and financial banking sectors. While early investments in technology were primarily targeted towards consumer solutions, the need to embrace and expand into an additional enterprise and corporate banking capabilities are gaining impetus. 

Artificial intelligence (AI) and particularly machine learning (ML) are being adopted for operational enhancements such as credit granting and fraud control capabilities. 

The role and growth of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) in the integration of new products and services offered (and in the above light) set the premise of this discussion. 

Digitization of banking and financial transactions is meant to re-package existing business products to customers while creating intelligent customer experiences. 

All along, banks and financial institutions have been riddled with disparate outdated legacy systems in the backend, diluting customer experiences as well. Digitization offers a plethora of benefits:

• Given the age of social media and online marketing, the target audiences choose to transact with a bank or a financial institution based on what they see, and how the brand positions itself online.
• Digital banking makes customer acquisition costs cheaper and is easier with the internet offering multiple platforms for banking and other institutions to do so.
• Digital transformation allows financial institutions to formulate their financial services and tailor their products and services according to customer requirements. 
• Innovative technological developments allow banks to strengthen customer engagement and adapt to market trends.
• A surge of activities in shopping portals, social channels, and integrated mobile apps have opened a lot of doors for banks to reach out to their customers as well.

The Use Of APIs In Establishing an Integrated Operational Environment

APIs are essentially a set of protocols and codes that determine how various software components and elements within the applications need to operate. In the system of open banking, the use of APIs in FinTech has slowly become mainstream and is being used to communicate with third-party service providers. 

For instance, banking APIs help banks to connect with e-commerce websites in facilitating the process of online payments for customers. The same API exchange might also integrate between brick and mortar banks with stores to help offer financing and lending options at POS locations. 

Track Finances and Transactions Seamlessly With AppShark’s Salesforce and Plaid Integration

Plaid is a technology layer that sits on top of the existing financial infrastructure. The platform is equipped with a set of tools that enable developers to interact with bank accounts, execute payments, and also manage risks when a financial application is built. 

This product allows a user to easily authenticate and link their bank account to any application and obtain its functionality through the app. Plaid can connect with bank accounts, credit cards, loans, and investment accounts to access account details such as balances and transactions. It can also be used to verify ownership of an account (IAV).

Salesforce is highly regarded as an effective CRM solution which has improvised the sales and services operations of businesses offering a suite of innovative and customer-centric products and services. 

Custom Salesforce-Plaid integration enables banking and financial organizations to tap into potential and be equipped with increased operational visibility. The Salesforce with Plaid platform helps enhance the productivity of resources and reduces duplication of customer data. It also facilitates a smooth mechanism of carrying out banking operations. 

This comprehensive solution brought out by MuleSoft (now owned by Salesforce) and Plaid helps financial institutions to easily implement Plaid Exchange – an open finance platform. This application includes the tools required to manage secure and reliable data connectivity that accommodates customers’ financial demands today by using the MuleSoft-compatible API description and standardized data model. 

Together, these assets enable financial institutions using MuleSoft’s Anypoint Platform to easily get started implementing Plaid Exchange. The development of the easy plug-and-play data model follows API design best practices and is simple to build. 

All that a bank or financial institution needs to get started is to choose the right Salesforce Plaid integration partner to get started on this process. 

Who All Can Benefit From AppShark’s Salesforce and Plaid Integration? 

• FinTechs: Plaids simple API eases up the process of connectivity of businesses into the Plaid network. With Salesforce integration, these businesses can scale up their offerings with better and more secure user experience.

• Consumers: With direct access to the institution, the end-user will experience faster connection times, improved security, better data, and can choose from more institutions. Once a FinTech institution or FI has integrated via Plaid Direct, end users are given the option to select an institution or app in given Plaid Link to connect their accounts with personal financial management apps. Consumers likewise can also use their accounts as a funding source for other services.

• Traditional banks: Strapped for resources most of the time, smaller banks struggle to build a dedicated API to directly connect with other applications and institutions. With Plaid, these banks can seek out a simpler way to connect their institution to the larger FinTech ecosystem. 

Why Appshark?

Plaid integration helps build a larger and more inclusive financial ecosystem while making data aggregation a lot safer, cleaner, and more reliable. Integrating Plaid with the robust and feature-rich Salesforce CRM needs an experienced integration services partner who can help harness the complete potential of a digitally powered financial system. 

AppShark is both a Salesforce Gold Consulting Partner and a Product Development Partner based in Dallas, Texas. Our implementation process (which includes customization, set up, and configuration) has been perfected through the many years served in the Salesforce industry. 

We also provide software integration services including strategy, development, and management to enable a continual flow of information from the cloud, premise to premise, or from cloud to premise platforms.