In the driver’s seat with InformerOnline and Rabo Bookkeeping API
InformerOnline offers entrepreneurs the tools they need to do their own bookkeeping. A link with the Rabo Bookkeeping API adds even more convenience for entrepreneurs. Co-owner Peter Potters talks about the benefits.
Do your own bookkeeping
“Every entrepreneur should be in the driver’s seat of their own business. And you can only do that by staying on top of the numbers. That’s the philosophy behind InformerOnline. We offer tools that small businesspeople can use to do their own bookkeeping, including paying VAT via iDEAL. To do that, we’ve made special agreements with the Tax Authority. And with the entrepreneur’s permission, a financial services provider can also look over their shoulder from time to time via the cloud.”
Always up to date
“Doing business today happens in realtime. So bookkeeping has to happen in realtime too. To do that, we’ve added a link with the Rabo Bookkeeping API to our tool in order to process bank transactions immediately. Via our tool, entrepreneurs can experience what it’s like to always have their bookkeeping up to date. When someone buys something in a shop using their debit card, the receipt goes straight to bookkeeping and the transaction is debited right away.”
API adds convenience
“European PSD2 legislation requires banks to make their data available if the customer grants permission. That adds convenience for the user. A link between a name and the wrong IBAN number is a thing of the past, and entrepreneurs can send batch payment orders straight from bookkeeping.”
“Rabobank played into that with tools like the Rabo Bookkeeping API. It allows our customers to call up their balance details and make payments and collections directly from their bookkeeping package.”
Good partnership
“We’ve been testing the API with 500 customers for the past two months, and now we’re making it available to all InformerOnline customers. The link wasn’t that complicated for us, because we have in-house developers who know everything about API. In an open partnership, we let Rabobank talk with our test customers, and that went great. We’d already used that form of partnership with the Tax Authority for the VAT link.”
Latest technologies
“We love being the first in the market to introduce these kinds of innovations. When you use InformerOnline as an entrepreneur, you know you’ll be dealing with the very latest technologies. Users don’t notice that an API is arranging the link with the banking services, which is precisely the point.”
Going beyond legislation
“I think it’s smart of Rabobank to adapt so well to the PSD2 legislation. The bank is required to make the data available, and has decided to add many more functionalities and quality via this API. To me, that goes far beyond the requirements of the PSD2. That’s Open Banking as it was meant to be. In exchange, we and other parties are willing to pay for the data, because Rabo Bookkeeping API offers a lot of added value for our customers.”