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As summer winds down, our team hasn't slowed down one bit — delivering an array of new products and enhancements. We're excited to share all the latest updates with you. Let’s dive in with some highlights:

• The Synctera Fleet Card was officially announced last week providing access to level 2 and level 3 transaction data
• A new Account Closure API is here to automate the process of closing end user accounts
• The /transaction endpoint was updated for you to retrieve a list of transactions for a set of end user accounts
• Synctera’s Address Verification Service was enhanced to accept alternative addresses for end users
• Domestic Wire instructions can now include For Further Credit to indicate the final recipient account for international remittances

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Bringing new banking and payments solutions to the freight and logistics industry

In case you missed it, we’re thrilled to announce the launch of the Synctera Fleet Card. The Synctera Fleet Card provides companies with everything they need to build fleet-specific payments and expense management solutions for their freight and logistics customers while generating interchange revenue with every card swipe. 

Through Marqeta’s payment processing capabilities, the Synctera Platform ingests and provides companies with access to enhanced Level 2 and Level 3 transaction data, such as fuel cost, fuel type, quantity, product descriptions, and more. This data enables companies to offer their fleet customers simplified expense management tools and a better way to manage driver payments. 

Fleet Cards can be combined with Synctera’s wide range of banking and money movement products, enabling companies to offer:

• Personal bank accounts for drivers to power instant payouts or earned wage access
• Invoice factoring solutions that allow for instant access to funds
• Complete business operating accounts that include ACH, Wires, and Instant Payments

You can read the full announcement here.

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Automating account closure with a new endpoint

Whether it’s due to an end user request or potential fraud, it’s vital to be able to close an account in a timely fashion. 

To provide more automation to the account closure process, you can now leverage our new /initiate_closure endpoint to automate the account closure process.

Using the new endpoint, you immediately change an account status to “in-closing.” Once in this status, the account can no longer be used to create new transactions or receive payments. Any accrued interest on the account will be credited on the day it’s set to in_closing. Pending payments will continue to be processed, any associated cards will be canceled, and any negative balance write-offs can be addressed.

It also automates the transfer of remaining funds in the account to another internal account or an external destination, that is specified in the API call. For regulatory purposes, you’ll need to input the reason for the account closure. 

Finally, you can subscribe to the “Account.Updated” webhook to receive updates on the status of the account, the completion of pending transactions, and the cancellation of cards associated with the account.

You can read more about automating account closure here.

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Improving card transaction acceptance with Synctera AVS enhancements

Back in July, we announced the Synctera Address Verification Service (AVS), which enables end users to use multiple addresses as part of the card transaction authorization process. They are no longer limited to using only their legal and billing addresses and can now leverage additional addresses, such as alternative shipping addresses, associated with their account.

In the past, 22% of declines were due to AVS mismatch. We expect these updates to improve card acceptance further and enhance the end user experience.

Our customers and bank partners will be able to access and view all end user addresses directly in the Synctera Console.

You can read more about Synctera AVS here.

Retrieving transaction lists for a set of end user accounts

Our /transaction endpoint was updated to simplify the process of retrieving a list of transactions and grouping them by a set of accounts, using the Account ID query parameter. You can now include an array of Account IDs when calling the API. 

This update makes it easier to create paginated tables, simplifying the display of transactions for your end users. Since Smart Cards involve two associated accounts per user, it’s now more straightforward to present both DDA and Smart Card-related transactions in a single, consolidated view.

You can view the update in our docs here.

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New domestic wire instructions to support international remittance

When sending funds overseas, you usually need to initiate a domestic wire transfer to a U.S. bank that has a correspondent relationship with a bank in the destination country or use a remittance provider. With our new “For Further Credit” attribute, you can now seamlessly include instructions in the wire transfer, specifying the exact international bank account where the funds are destined. This ensures a smooth and accurate transfer process.

How FFC works:

1. Initial Transfer: Funds are first sent to an intermediary account.
2. Further Credit Instructions: The transfer includes specific instructions that the funds should be forwarded or credited to a particular individual’s or entity’s bank account.
3. Final Recipient: The intermediary ensures that the funds are moved to the specified account, completing the transaction.