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As part of its strategy to remove friction from automated bank transfers, Astra Inc., a provider of bank-to-bank transfer technology, is partnering with open-banking platform provider Plaid Inc. The partnership will make it easier for software developers to embed automated bank transfers into their applications by enabling them to use Plaid’s Auth product in tandem with Astra’s automation platform.
For example, a new customer to an authorized application can easily connect a bank account, have its ownership validated, and set up their first automation in a single session. Further, the transfer automation will continue to move funds for that user until modified or canceled. In this way, the companies say, customer deposits will continuously grow, and debit cards always have available funds for spending without manual intervention from the user.
“This will make it as easy as possible for developers to add [bank automated transfers] with as little work as possible,” says Sam Morgan, co-founder and chief operating officer at Astra. “For companies that have integrated Plaid for an account-balance check, for example, they can take their connectivity to Plaid and add the Astra API.”
For developers with a Plaid integration, adding Astra’s transfer automation will be easier, the companies say. Astra’s API allows developers to quickly provide transfer automations for users to address a variety of needs including sweeping extra funds above a balance threshold from one account to another; making one-time transfers between bank accounts in a way that shortens the settlement cycle from two business days to one, up to $25,000 per transfer; and automating refill programs to move funds into a depository account from a secondary account based on a target balance.
“Plaid is very receptive to our mission of removing friction from automated bank transfers and they are developer friendly,” Morgan says.
In addition to enabling automated bank transfers, Astra provides risk mitigation as a built-in service. This, the company says, ensures all transfers originating from the Astra platform will complete as intended or cancel without a negative impact on the customer and without loss of funds.
“Most bank transfers are done using the ACH, which has about a 3% failure rate,” says Morgan. “With our platform, transfers arrive as intended 99.997% of the time.”
The average number of financial relationships per person has increased from two to five in just three years, making the ability to move funds between accounts with low friction essential, Astra says.
