How APIs can provide real-time payment alerts and reporting in Excel and Power BI
The need for bank data within a company is no longer limited to the finance department. Today, multiple departments - from sales to operations - rely on accurate, up-to-date financial data. However, setting up automated reporting mechanisms that pull data directly from the bank, and distribute it securely to designated staff and systems, can be complex.
In this blog, we explore how car reseller Van Poelgeest is transforming its payment tracking process and gaining instant visibility into real-time transaction and balance data. With Automation Boutique’s plug-and-play solution, powered by ABN AMRO’s Business Account Insight API, the staff are now automatically notified as soon as a payment comes in. Just as importantly, the dealership can also get up-to-date financial data directly into tools like Excel and Power BI, solving manual handling and saving time.
What was the problem?
With multiple showrooms across the Netherlands, Van Poelgeest needed each branch to be able to quickly verify whether a customer’s payment had been received, especially when customers arrive to collect their car. In an ideal world, this information would be instantly accessible. In reality, the process was far from seamless.
According to Kevin van Veldhuizen, Project Manager at Van Poelgeest: "On a daily basis, including in the weekend, we had to manually check transaction data and distribute it to the right branch, so that the branch would know if a car had been paid. This could potentially lead to an unnecessary and time consuming process."
In addition to several manual checks, Van Poelgeest also had to import bank balance and transaction data into their reporting tools, such as Excel and Power BI. This added time and complexity to their operations and increased the risk of human error.
How Van Poelgeest solves the problem
To improve their processes, Van Poelgeest wanted a solution that would provide real-time payment visibility without the need for manual work. APIs offered a promising path forward. However, an API is not an app that a company can simply install and start using. Integrating ABN AMRO’s Business Account Insight API and distributing the data automatically, securely, and in a user-friendly way across multiple teams and tools like Excel and Power BI led to a technical challenge.
Van Poelgeest had a few options. They could do the development work to integrate the API themselves, work with a system integrator, or use a ready-made solution with the needed functionality already developed. They chose the latter, partnering with Automation Boutique.
As stated by Hilko Ceton, Manager Finance & Control at Van Poelgeest: “Instead of integrating the API ourselves, we chose to work with Automation Boutique because they already had the right foundations in place. It allowed us to get real-time transaction data in Excel and notifications to our showrooms live in a very short amount of time. By combining the bank data with our own internal data, we can now ensure that each showroom receives the correct payment information quickly and accurately, without manual intervention.”
What are the key benefits of the solution
While APIs hold the promise of offering easier access to financial data, many companies still struggle with making APIs work for them, as the concept and practical use requires technical knowledge. Automation Boutique designed its solution with simplicity and usability in mind, ensuring that clients can access and act on their bank data without needing to build integrations themselves.
Jan-Willem Attevelt, Co-Founder at Automation Boutique points out: “With our new solution, we want to make it easy for companies to use their financial data in the tools they already work with every day, like Excel and Power BI, while also building additional features that deliver direct value for our clients. A great example of this is the self-service notification engine, which allows clients to define which notifications should be sent, for which events, and to which recipients. This functionality eliminates manual work, delays and the risk of errors.”
The solution is powered by ABN AMRO's Business Account Insight API, which supports transaction data and balances. With Bank Connectivity, ABN AMRO extended this API as an embedded service and made it available for (trusted) third parties like Automation Boutique.
Getting started with the solution is simple. Companies can register on Automation Boutique’s website and select which ABN AMRO accounts they want to connect. Of course the account holder first have to give approval before the data can be shared. This is accomplished by signing the required approval for ABN AMRO’s Account Connectivity, after which the API connection is activated. Once the secure connection is active, companies can access real-time bank data directly in Excel and set up notifications.
Lianne Oversteegen, Business Developer Commercial API Team at ABN AMRO states: “Because we are always looking for the best offerings for our customers, we were thrilled with the solution provided by Automation Boutique. This enables our customers to leverage the benefits of APIs, at the location and in the manner they prefer. Yet another great example of how our Embedded Services can contribute to efficiency in business processes.”
By working closely together, Van Poelgeest, Automation Boutique and ABN AMRO turned a complex challenge into a practical, user-friendly, plug and play solution that shows how real-time bank data can be made accessible without heavy in-house development.
Development capacity is no longer a requirement for integrating the API functionality. Van Poelgeest shows how the right solution can make APIs accessible and useful across the entire business.
About Van Poelgeest
Van Poelgeest is a leading Dutch automotive group specializing in BMW and MINI vehicles. With multiple branches across the Netherlands, the group offers a full range of services including new and used car sales, maintenance, and repairs. Each location operates with a high level of autonomy, particularly the showrooms, where delivering a satisfying customer experience is a top priority. This setup makes real-time access to financial information important for daily operations.
About Automation Boutique
Automation Boutique is a Dutch technology company that develops automation solutions for treasury and finance teams. Their new solution, API Boutique, enables companies to access real-time bank data directly in tools like Excel and Power BI, and to configure smart notifications based on specific events. As an ISO27001-certified provider and trusted Bank Connectivity partner of ABN AMRO, Automation Boutique offers secure and scalable access to the Business Account Insight API, helping companies make their banking data work for them.
