ALFAM Innovates Credit Process with Open API

The impetus for a new credit process at ALFAM was the increasing complexity in the distribution chain, which increased costs and worsened response times. At the same time, the entire financial sector is shifting toward more openness, including with the arrival of PSD2 regulations: a new directive requiring European banks to open up their payment data to third parties. By developing an innovative vision of digital collaboration, ALFAM is innovating the credit process and aims to remain a leader within the financial sector. In addition, consumers expect transparency and fast service, including for credit applications. This requires close cooperation between the lender and distribution partners, without compromising customer privacy and information security.

Creating an optimal digital credit process for ALFAM was a challenging endeavor, as distribution partners have diverse requirements. According to Krijn de Haan, information manager at ALFAM, the challenge of this project lies mainly in the question: How specific or generic should the process become? De Haan: ”The fact that every distribution partner has different needs makes offering a flexible process crucial.”

To meet these needs, Info Support has developed an open API. An API can best be compared to a kind of interpreter that speaks all languages. An API ensures that different software programs, all speaking their own language, can still communicate with each other. For software developers, this means that they no longer have to program functionalities, but can easily call them via the open API. By using an open API, ALFAM thus makes functionalities available that distribution partners can easily integrate into their own processes. De Haan: “In this way, ALFAM can establish a simple and standardized process on the ‘back end,’ while distribution partners on the ‘front end’ have the freedom to set up the process as they see fit.”

The use of an open API is actually a kind of mass customization solution, so that one’s own process always matches the process of the user, in this case the software developers of distribution partners. The big advantage for ALFAM is that the use of an open API indirectly improves the delivery quality of credit applications and reduces the risk of errors, because ALFAM’s and distribution partners’ processes connect seamlessly.

Info Support and ALFAM decided to closely involve three of ALFAM’s distribution partners in the process so that it could continuously test which functionalities are or are not needed. This made the final process as simple and efficient as possible. In addition, this approach with end users ensured a quick time-to-market. The process was realized within six months.

During the development of the open API, great attention was paid to information security. After all, the data exchanged during credit applications are personal and confidential and require optimal security. Therefore, strong authentication was chosen, based on OpenID Connect. The security measures have been extensively tested and approved by a renowned consulting firm. The API was developed by Info Support on the basis of open standards with .NET.

In addition to the technical side of the digital transformation, Info Support and ALFAM believe it is important that the solution is also widely accepted within the organization. De Haan: “Info Support’s mindset is ‘Culture eats strategy for breakfast’ and I completely agree. You can have such a good solution, but if you don’t have the right culture within your organization it won’t work. For new and innovative solutions, you need a learning, agile culture. Info Support breathes this culture. Because we work with mixed teams with both ALFAM and Info Support employees, Info Support’s innovative culture was naturally transferred to our own employees. The collaboration with Info Support has led to a huge cultural shift within ALFAM, for which we are very grateful to Info Support.”

To realize the new credit process, Info Support worked according to the corporate start-up methodology. According to this principle, a multidisciplinary start-up team works independently on innovative solutions and products. This team is part of the umbrella organization, but functions completely independently. In this way, even large organizations become agile and innovative.