CIO

Xero launches open banking API for accounting

“This is an evolutionary leap in how banks, payment providers, and lenders can interact with their small business customers through Xero,” says Ben Styles, general manager of financial services products.

Xero says its first full-featured API for bank feeds will enable banks, fintechs and other financial institutions to give their small business customers faster access to financial data directly from the platform.

The Xero bank feeds API will allow banks and fintechs to quickly and securely integrate with Xero with minimal development. As a result, data can be imported via direct bank feeds, allowing for near real-time reconciliation in Xero.

In opening the developer API (secured by best practice OAuth industry standards) to more Xero-certified institutions, small businesses will gain faster access to the financial information they need to make crucial business decisions, says Xero.

They can sign up to direct feeds from their bank in minutes instead of days and, with bank data flowing into Xero automatically, the time spent manually reconciling transactions reduces significantly.

As with all Xero direct feeds, accountants and bookkeepers will know they are working with a complete set of accurate data direct from a bank using the Xero bank feeds API, so they’ll spend less time chasing information or fixing errors, and more time helping their clients grow.

“Over the past 11 years, Xero has pioneered direct integrations with some of the world’s largest banks, including Wells Fargo, DBS, Barclays and NAB. With the Xero bank feeds API, we’re now making bank transaction feeds and daily reconciliation available for all Xero-certified financial institutions and fintechs, while enabling our existing partners to also innovate faster on the Xero platform,” says Ben Styles, Xero general manager of financial services products.

“With the Xero bank feeds API, all types and sizes of financial institutions can integrate with Xero to deliver an optimal customer experience and give small businesses the information they need to make crucial business decisions in one platform,” says Styles, who announced the open the open banking API for accounting at Xerocon 2018 in Brisbane.

“This is an evolutionary leap in how banks, payment providers, and lenders can interact with their small business customers through Xero.”

Xero says it already has partnerships with more than 180 financial institutions globally – including Wells Fargo in the US, NAB in Australia, Barclays in the UK, DBS in Singapore and ASB in New Zealand.

These direct integrations have required specialised development and customisation from both Xero and the financial institution.

With the Xero bank feeds API, financial institutions can dramatically improve time-to- market for direct integrations as they gain access to a consistent development platform to serve their customers.

Now, financial institutions of all sizes across the world – from digital banks to major institutions in developing regions – will be able to connect to the small business platform via the API, accelerating Xero’s vision to connect businesses with vital data from hundreds of sources in one platform, the company says in a statement.

Xero recognises high performing partners

Xero, meanwhile, announces the winners in its annual partner awards.

The award categories were expanded from nine to twelve in 2018 to recognise national partners and the growing Asian market. New categories included National Partner of the Year in Australia and in New Zealand, and Asia Regional Partner of the Year.

The industry leading awards are judged across a number of criteria including innovation, ability to boost productivity and provide client solutions, strong marketing strategies, certification and use of cloud technology tools to provide value to clients.

The 2018 Xerocon Brisbane Awards winners:

1. Australian Accounting Partner of the Year: RBK Advisory

2. Australia Bookkeeping Partner of the Year: Business Boost Centre

3. National Partner of the Year Australia: Deloitte Australia 4. New Zealand Accounting Partner of the Year: Maisey Harris & Co

5. New Zealand Bookkeeping Partner of the Year: Go Fi8ure

6. National Partner of the Year New Zealand: SBA 7. Asia Partner of the Year (joint award winners): Agere Accounting & Advisory (Singapore) and Fresh Accounting (Hong Kong)

8. Asia Regional Partner of the Year: Mazars (Asia)

9. 100% Cloud: Robot Pte. Ltd.

10. App Partner of the Year: Deputy

11. Industry Specific App Partner of the Year: AccountKit 12. Emerging App Partner of the Year: Weploy

“The past year has been an incredible period of growth for Xero as we’ve evolved into a truly global platform,” says Craig Hudson, managing director of Xero New Zealand and Pacific Islands.

“As part of that, we’ve seen an unprecedented level of achievement by those in our network. Partners like Maisey Harris & Co, Go Fi8ure and SBA work really hard everyday to be at the forefront of the latest technology and tools so they can help small businesses thrive.

“Many Kiwis aspire to be their own boss, and these award winners are some of the very best in the industry at helping make that a reality.”

Trent Innes, managing director of Xero Australia, says the digital landscape in Australia is evolving from ‘nice to have’ to a ‘must have’ as new government legislation is making it mandatory for small businesses to use digital systems of record.

“So it’s important for our Xero partners to be at the forefront of these changes, as they’re the ones on the front line helping small businesses transform the way they do business. Those honoured in the awards are well and truly leading the pack and we’re proud to have them as part of our network.”

Kevin Fitzgerald, regional director of Xero Asia, says Xero’s presence across Asia is growing rapidly and the enthusiasm for cloud technology amongst small businesses in the region is building increasing momentum.

“The accounting and bookkeeping partners who work alongside us are leading the charge to help digitise small businesses and help them grow. It’s an honour to hand out four Asia awards this year to Agere Accounting & Advisory, Fresh Accounting, Robot Pte and Mazars (Asia). All are hardworking firms dedicated to helping small businesses thrive.”

Craig Hudson
Craig Hudson

Divina Paredes is attending Xerocon 2018 in Brisbane as a guest of Xero.