Whether or not you have heard of APIs – or Application Programming Interfaces – you will certainly have encountered them. Many modern organizations use these as a way of boosting user experience, managing customer relationships, helping with taking payments, etc. There are many common examples of APIs playing a central role in businesses and your online life. Whether you are looking to find out about them for mere reference or you are thinking about using them in your own business, it’s worth knowing more about their prominent uses and where they can come into play.
Log in
If you have ever seen a login page that encourages you to sign up or log in with Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc., you will undoubtedly encounter an API. Essentially, this serves to make the login process easier for customers. Still, it also keeps a range of online accounts tied up together and can give companies additional access to their customers’ data. As this is such a common use of APIs, it is also important that you are reliant on API security, as this will prevent people from wanting to gain access through the back door.
Payment
If you have ever signed up to pay with PayPal or at the click of a button with Google Pay, you will have seen a payment API offering this service. Again, this serves a similar means of making the payment process as easy as possible for customers by encouraging them to pay with the click of a button rather than having to input every one of their details. This also reinforces just how important proper protection of APIs is.
Travel booking
Travel booking is one of the more complicated API uses. Still, it is so important for many providers as it can simplify a range of information and allow them to come up with a coherent answer. For example, when they are trying to contact third parties to confirm flight information or ensure that hotel rooms are still available, etc. When you are an average user, you may overlook that all of this is happening at the click of a button, but so much complex info is being passed back and forth.
Customer relationship management
So much of modern customer relationships have been digitized, and a big part of this comes down to tools that often rely on an API. Using something like Salesforce will show you the overall importance of an API and what a central role it can play. Managing customer relationships should be right at the heart of what you are doing.
All of these are amongst a few of the most common examples of APIs and how they can play an important role in ensuring the modern consumer world goes around. As you can see, they can be useful in such a wide range of business settings and environments. Ensuring that all security provisions have been offered is also important in defending against the threats and issues that may commonly occur in the modern world.
