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Banking and accounting are, in a sense, two sides of the same coin. What banking does, accounting records. But those running a business would know just how disparate the actual machinery of both these processes are in reality.

Attempts have always been made to enable the seamless reconciliation of banking and accounting operations. Whether it is through the error-ridden approach of manual entry of all banking transactions into accounting books, or the more recent solutions offered by Application Programming Interface (API) banking, businesses try their best to bridge the gap between the two.

API banking allows businesses to integrate banking services with accounting and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions, making way for automatic reconciliation of their bank with their accounting tools. However, for this, businesses need to host a server on their office premises and require an in-house IT team to oversee the integration — a stipulation that small and medium businesses cannot often meet.

ICICI Bank’s Connected Banking is a solution to the problems brought about by API banking and the manual reconciliation of banking with accounting operations. It connects holders of ICICI Bank Current Accounts with leading digital accounting platforms to facilitate ease of transactions and auto-reconciliation. It offers services of integrated API banking to these account holders, broadening the base of customers who benefit from tools enabling seamless banking and accounting.

The whole package

Irrespective of the size of their business, customers can enjoy the benefits of API banking without having to subject themselves to the hassle of integration with an on-site server. They need only register with the accounting partner of their choice who already hosts the API integration-based solutions provided by ICICI Bank Connected Banking. Just like that, customers can carry out accounting and banking activities from a single platform.

· Customers can also use Connected Banking partner platforms to make payments without having to switch between multiple windows. All such transactions will be automatically reconciled with the current account.

· The collection of payments has been made extremely coherent with ICICI Bank’s Connected Banking platform. It allows businesses to raise in-app invoices and allows their customers to pay using a large variety of online and offline methods. Moreover, it auto-reconciles payments when they are made.

· Salaries can be distributed from the current account with a single click. As the bank account is debited, the transaction will simultaneously be recorded on the partner accounting platform.

· If eligible, customers can avail themselves of an instant overdraft facility without having to pledge a security against it. Customers can also get prepaid cards issued through the partner platforms.

· Customers are ensured convenience because they can also pay direct taxes by using the partner accounting platforms.

Partners of ICICI Bank Connected Banking offer a wide array of services including accounting, expense management, inventory management, business banking, Human Resources Management System (HRMS) and payroll. Moreover, offers and discounts on license and AMC fees are extended by partners to ICICI Bank current account holders and can be availed on ICICI Bank offers’ Connected Banking tab.

Customers can instantly sign up for ICICI Bank Connected Banking with paperless registration. They can avail exclusive offers, make payments to their vendors, and collect payments, all on a single platform without having to worry about manual reconciliation.

_{For further information, please visit https://bit.ly/3puSA9g.}