Question: Is there a platform that enables payment initiation directly from bank accounts, reducing transaction costs?

If you need a platform that lets you initiate payments from bank accounts and cut transaction costs, Salt Edge is a strong contender. It offers an open banking API that reaches more than 5,000 banks, along with payment initiation, data aggregation and real-time financial data. The company also has a compliance hub to handle open banking compliance, so it's a secure and reliable option for companies in financial management, retail banking and other areas.

Another good choice is Plaid. The company securely links users' financial accounts to a broad range of apps and services, and it offers payment initiation, real-time balance checking and identity verification. It's got a presence in Europe and North America, and it can handle a variety of financial use cases, so it's good for personal and business finances, lending and banking & wealth.

If you're a business looking for an all-purpose payment management system, Modern Treasury could be a good choice. It packages several payment rails -- including ACH and wires -- into one API, with real-time reconciliation, automated exception handling and enterprise-level security. The company positions the system to automate and centralize payment operations, with connections to more than 40 banks and support for international payment transactions.

Last, Inai offers a full-stack payment platform that makes payment operations easier with a single API connection to many payment service providers for payment collection, payout and workflow automation. It also includes tools for detailed analysis, reconciliation and anomaly detection, so it's a good option for companies that want to reduce payment failure rates and lower transaction costs.