Curious about how our APIs can improve your company? What kind of use cases are possible with our APIs? Read in the article below how TravelEssence uses ABN AMRO’s FX Trade API to improve its treasury process.

How the journey started with TravelEssence

TravelEssence is a travel agency that develops customized trips to Australia and New Zealand. Every trip they create is unique, in fifteen years there has not been one trip that was the same.

When the client agrees with the trip proposal, TravelEssence has to make the payments in foreign currency. TravelEssence knows exactly when these payments have to be made and what the specific dollar amount is. With this information, they can hedge themselves against the currency risk.

This process was normally done manually on ABN AMRO’s online FX platform, Dealstation. And because there are a lot of transactions that are difficult to bundle, it’s a time-consuming task. During one of the talks between TravelEssence and ABN AMRO Bank, we discussed a solution that could help TravelEssence to automate this process. With the FX Trade API, ABN AMRO has created a new system that allows TravelEssence to link to ABN AMRO’s banking system to fully automate the booking of these transactions.

TravelEssence has accepted these changes with open arms. In automating these processes they have more time to spent on their clients and create more value. Automating this manually intensive process has allowed them more time to focus on what is truly important, creating value for their clients.

Interview with TravelEssence

We asked TravelEssence some questions on their experience implementing the FX Trade API.

What was the motivation and goal for TravelEssence to start automating the process of FX Trade conversions?

“To reduce the risk of losing money, due to currency fluctuation, we were already manually hedging via Dealstation. This was time-consuming and sensitive to errors. For an itinerary, we only purchased at the time a trip was booked. Any changes afterward or even full cancellations were ignored. To be more accurate and scalable in the future we decided to automate the process.”

What was needed by TravelEssence to start with the implementation of the FX Trade API?

“We were already redesigning and implementing our new core system Travelvety 2.0. Implementing the FX Trade API actually reduced the development time. In the legacy system, we had an OCR tool to digitalize the Dealstation confirmations. Since we needed to become more accurate in the currencies we purchase/sell, we would have needed to build complex user interaction to support a party manual flow. With the help of FX Trade API, we were able to fully automate the process. Now we are scalable and much more accurate.”

How was the implementation process? What went easier than expected? What was more difficult than expected?

“Overall the implementation went smooth. Because we used low code platform Out systems, it was easy to go from concept to the first version and to the final version. The API documentation and Postman sample project really helped us to get started.

Next to the information given on ABN AMRO’s Developer Portal, we experienced that we needed some additional information. We got in touch with our account manager and a very knowledgeable API developer of ABN AMRO. Their quick response and understanding of hedging really made the difference. The functional walk-through and advice were very useful to us.”

What would be your advice for companies that are considering making use of the FX Trade API?

“Our advice for companies that are considering to make use of the FX Trade API is;

• Make sure that you understand the business case and (functional) options of the FX Trade API.
• Model your plans in a flow and validate with ABN AMRO to confirm this is the best way to use their systems.
• Visit an actual user like TravelEssence and learn from their approach.”

More information

Interested? Go to the FX Trade API, head over to the documentation and try it out!