PeggyRichardson

Ever since the advent of B2B, various companies have adopted numerous ways of approaching B2B integration using various means available. Some opt for extremely complex and costly EDI VANs while some others prefer to build themselves a series of B2B interfaces employing a variety of customized rules for every trading partner. This often leads to the creation of a bunch of point to point integrations, which can be challenging for any of the traditional B2B integration tools. Thus, such hard coded integrations are often quite difficult to scale and adapt to changes in requirements.

Challenges with the older systems

Technology is evolving at a breakneck speed with new apps and interfaces developing by the second, around the world. Hence it is important for companies to speed up the time which they take to introduce new products and services to the market, so that they do not fall behind the competition in this rat race. Things like low partner on-boarding processes or drawn-out document transfers prevent companies from achieving the best of the nimbleness and agility they could have achieved with better resources.

Companies regularly face challenges like how to extract data which is housed in EDI documents so that they persist to other systems if needed and once they manage, how to transform that extracted data into a format which is easy to work with. They also face challenges when it comes to processing data from systems which are a couple of decades or more older and connecting them to the changed newer technologies since those operate in different ways than the older system did. This makes way to the API-led approach which is a modern system designed to do away with quite a bit of these hitches.

API-led approach to EDI and B2B integration

API-led integration allows organizations to unlock the value of their existing systems with the use of APIs. It helps them innovate rapidly and adapt to the newest technology without losing security or control over the important enterprise data. Companies can also integrate their new SaaS and mobile applications with the pre-existing traditional B2B protocols and standards to build reusable services across various B2B trading partners or processes on a unified connectivity platform. This leads to a greater agility as well as a lower time for partner on boarding and adapting to new changes. Thus, your processes are always active even when you are working on upgrading of your systems. There are three important components of an API-led solution which you need to look for.

• The ability to send and receive EDI messages via EDI specific types of protocols other than the traditional HTTP and MTP, etc.

• The ability to translate EDI messages which encoded in a standard way and transform them into different formats as and when needed. Different partners have different kind of approaches to integration solutions and hence it is critical to be able to keep up pace.

• The ability to manage various trading partners by understanding their different needs and formulating solutions specific to the partner without messing up or confusing in the rush. There is a dire need of a good trading partner management solution which allows a company to define its validation rules.

When it comes to choosing a B2B gateway make sure it is one which is based off of a browser based, no-code, application where both technical and non-technical users can share and collaborate configurations on how to handle and process EDI and non-EDI data. Therefore, you can automate transmission, mapping, and integration to any backend system, whether that is on-premise or in the cloud.

Every day when we shop, go to the movies or are paying our bills at a local restaurant, the most important finance tool we use is our credit card. Making it not so important to carry thick bundles of cash in our wallets, credits cards have revolutionised the way we transact money in the modern world. With numerous perks and facilities, they have proved to be a great banking support for consumers. But, what is the way ahead to develop the concept further. With the growth of digital technology there are some reputed credit repair companies that are making arrangements to take this wonder a league ahead in its functionality.

The dissolving card

One of the most major concerns with credit cards today is the security issue that both consumers and the banks have to deal with. On losing a card or being victim to theft, the first task is to intimate the card company to block your card, so that it is inactive for any transactions. But what if you still don’t want anyone to have possession of your card and the details on it? Well a new plastic based material usually used in medical science and military is being put into use. It will make you destroy your card easily as a single trigger will make the material melt and you are safe to apply for your next one.

One card for all

Today we carry a large number of plastic cards inside our wallets and most of the times it is a cumbersome task to find the right one when in need. Also, the space is too much to be adjusted with when everything is craving to be micro sized. Innovators are researching for the next level where a credit card shaped computer is all you need. The device will have a magnetic strip and will store the information of all your credit cards. All you need to do is select the one you wish to use from an accompanying app and you are good to go.

Card with a keypad

Every time you make a purchase with your credit card the merchant has to hand you over a machine where you put in your personal punch in details in front of the stranger. Avoiding such situation is the main concern for companies that are trying to add a keypad and screen to the card itself. With the help of this new addition you can protect your card with a password. Unlock only when you wish to transact and also punch in your card pin from here too. What’s better is when locked; this card will not even show the owner’s details and other dates and digits. So a locked card will be of no use when lost or stolen.

Foreign transactions get easier

Whenever you are in a different country it is easy to make any transaction with you credit card as that saves you from the tax you pay for currency exchange. But for this the protocol is that every time you travel abroad you need to inform your banking authority so they can permit your card for international use. The back end work that is required for the whole procedure is lengthy. But not doing so will make your bank mark enquiries about fraudulent transactions. The solution is to pair your phone to the card so that when your phone is in an international location, the system can detect it and validate your transactions easily.

The magic of NFC

The final step in eradicating all these problems would be the introduction of the Near Field Communication model with the help of your phone as a carriage device. A small NFC chip will be provided by your credit card provider that you can place inside your phone. The transactions can happen when this chip gets detected at the point of purchase and the functions can be done with an app on the phone itself.

Taking you ahead to smoother, easy to use and lot more secure credit card systems, these innovations will be a great boon for fraudulent worries. So just wait for the magic to begin.