Build Client Confidence in eCommerce

Here is how APIs can help businesses in the rapidly growing e-Commerce industry enhance payments processes and drive customer satisfaction.

Build client confidence in e-Commerce

Two of our clients operate in the rapidly growing e-Commerce industry – one in B2B sales, the other supporting the retail sector.

Lykos is a specialist refined metal sales platform and its portal attracts mainly corporate and institutional buyers. Skyee is a payment provider that helps merchants in China collect sales proceeds from overseas online marketplaces.

Although their businesses are very different, they share a common problem – a need to enhance their payments processes in order to improve customer satisfaction.

Lykos has very specific payment needs. Its clients make high-value purchases in a fast-moving market. They usually pre-fund their accounts to settle transactions immediately and, if a transaction is not settled, they expect the unused funds to be returned without delay.

The platform wanted a payment solution which would provide real-time updates whenever the buyers credited their accounts, and the ability to make instant refunds whenever required.

Skyee was also looking to improve its customers’ experience. It wanted to notify each merchant when their funds were due to arrive, and to automate its payments process to reduce errors. It also wanted to consolidate its many foreign currency accounts to streamline its operations.

Both firms approached us with their requirements, and we used our suite of banking API solutions, DBS RAPID (Real-time APIs with DBS) to transform their payments operations.
For Lykos, we set up a virtual account for each buyer when they registered as users on the platform. They use their virtual account number when making payments so they can be easily identified.

As soon as a buyer sends funds to Lykos for settlement, the platform receives a credit confirmation through a RAPID API and the buyer’s virtual account is immediately credited. Should the transaction fail, the buyer can request an immediate refund which can be executed automatically, in real-time.

Skyee also adopted virtual accounts to simplify its payment process. Each merchant on the platform is given a virtual account number and remitters use this number when they are paying the merchants. This allows Skyee to immediately identify incoming sales proceeds and provide a status report to the merchants. We used DBS RAPID to automate the payments and reconcile transactions.

And to allow Skyee to reduce its currency accounts, we created a single multi-currency account linked to foreign currency wallets.

As a result of the changes we made, both firms reported a transformation in client satisfaction.

Lykos has reported a significant increase in buyer confidence as failed transactions have been eliminated. As well as enhancing the quality and responsiveness of its service, it has significantly reduced costs and overheads and is looking to expand into new territories.
Skyee can identify each customer’s sales much more quickly and report back to them on the status of incoming funds. Eliminating manual processes has decreased errors and reduced the time needed for account reconciliation.

If you are dealing with similar challenges, DBS RAPID can help. We are a leader in the provision of banking API solutions with more than 200 customers and have the largest banking API library in the world.