text: Challenges when integrating banking APIs
  Actualizing this vision was not without challenges. The process involved substantial elements of product design, API implementation, and regulatory compliance, such as handling KYC requirements. Joost stressed that integrating with a Banking-as-a-Service API was not a one-off task, but a continuous one due to constant updates and security measures. Hence, one key success factor that was highlighted is the importance of choosing a trustworthy and established Banking-as-a-Service provider, which continuously improves the underlying services and can offer a whole product suite beyond plain vanilla banking. For software companies contemplating integrating financial services, Joost recommended focusing on the value it adds to the customer experience. He emphasized the project’s complexity, suggesting it be treated as a principal focus endeavor, not a side project.
  The power of context
  Crucial to the discussion was the understanding that banks lack contextual information about transactions, which software companies often have at their disposal. In essence, banks know ‘what’ is done, but not ‘why.’ Hence, adding banking functionality to a software platform that already possesses transactional context, empowers entrepreneurs with deep financial insights originally unavailable with traditional banking models.
  In conclusion, it was clear the merger of banking and accounting via embedded finance, despite initial hurdles, is well underway.