SAP BANK API Integration doubts

[shanker444]

Hi All ,

client is making vendor payments manually using f-53 tcode , afterthat they will make the payments in bank portal with reference to the manual payments in SAP .

this process they want to automate using API ,

after making manual paymets ,they will run backgroung job at particular day , through background job payments has be made automatically ,we have push the data to the bank portal through the URL ,

please tell me end to end process of this if anyone knows ,

what questions i need to ask to client , what are the pre requisites ,

[Bohdan]

Hi shanker444,

I think you should approach this process from a different angle. First of all, who in 2024 is still using F-53 to post outgoing payments manually? Best practice is not to use this t-code at all. In fact, during my last 10 years I worked with various companies that use SAP. Some of them were small, some middle, other were huge international corporations. None of them provided the users even the access to F-53.

Best practice is to automate the outgoing payments is via use of the automatic payment program (F110). With the help of this program you can automatically post payment documents and generate either a payment file or an IDOC with payment details. The format of the payment file is configurable. It can be either XML-format or a flat file of any structure in accordance with the specification of the bank. There are various automation levels. The most simple approach is for the user to download the generated file and upload it manually to a bank portal. But it is not very secure. Most companies wish to implement a host-to-host (H2H) interface with the bank. There are also various options. The most simple one is that the payment program can place the payment file in the folder on application server (i.e. AL11). This folder is monitored by a MW-tool (SAP PI/PO, webMethods or whatever tool the company uses). MW-tool implements the connection to the bank partner. Eventually, everything depends on the technical capabilities of the bank partner. Some of them provide just batch processing, other expose public APIs etc. Therefore you should first of all check what technical options is your bank partner providing and what capabilities are supported by the MW-tool.

The second part of the process is the inbound integration. Once the outgoing payments were posted in the bank, you have to download the bank statement from the bank and upload it back to SAP for processing. This is another mandatory step that will also generate the postings for payments. Check out with FI-consultant, he will explain the things about use of the posting areas in bank statement and how it corresponds with use of the payment program and how to eventually reconcile the payments. Apart from that, you'll have other operations in bank statement that should be posted as well - incoming payments, fees, transfers between bank accounts etc. Anyway, there are standard programs that can consume bank statements in various formats - MT940, Multicash, CAMT, BAI etc.

Finally, before jumping to any technical solutions you should understand that both processes - automatic payments & bank statement are very flexible & powerful. The architecture should start in FI-domain with an FI-consultant. He should develop the overall architecture. Integration consultant should ensure technical side of the connection & maybe some data mapping. But should not drive the architecture.

Regards,

Bohdan

[anupam_ghosh2]

Hi Raja,

Ask for API details and documentation.

What is the protocol to be used?

Any encryption involved ?

Regards

Anupam

[shanker444]

Thank you anupam.