Integration - Bank Feed is where ERP discipline either begins or breaks.
Bank Feed Integration via Open Banking / Plaid / Direct Bank API looks operational from far away. In a real finance team, it is a chain of assertions: the right actor started the work, the required records existed, the control policy was applied, the state change was preserved, and the outcome can be explained later without rebuilding the transaction from emails and spreadsheets.
The expected business outcome is specific: 90% of bank transactions auto-reconciled; month-end close bank reconciliation time reduced from 2 days to 2 hours.
The control flow a finance team actually needs.
Step 1
Plaid, Open Banking UK, And Direct SFTP...
Step 2
Access Tokens Encrypted At Rest Using...
Step 3
Token Refresh Handled Transparently...
Step 4
Matching Engine Configurable Tolerance
Step 5
Duplicate Transaction Detection By...
The ERP surface involved.
Module
Integration - Bank Feed
Actors
Finance Controller, Bank (Open Banking API / Plaid), Bank Reconciliation Worker
Tier
Tier 1
Finance area
Platform, Integration, Security, Administration & Analytics
Region lens
US and UK finance teams
Publication date
June 23, 2026
Support Plaid (US), Open Banking UK, and direct SFTP bank statement import (OFX/BAI2/MT940 formats); access tokens encrypted at rest using envelope encryption (AES-256 + KMS); token refresh handled transparently without user action; matching engine configurable tolerance (date ±3 days, amount exact or ±$0.01); duplicate transaction detection by bank-assigned transaction_id; bank feed ingestion Temporal activity is idempotent (external_id = bank transaction_id); reconciliation status updates the GL cash account balance in real time; support ≥50 bank connections per entity.
US and UK teams have different compliance hooks, but the same control problem.
US teams usually care about clean evidence for audit support, vendor records, payment controls, tax reporting, and management review. UK teams usually care about VAT-ready records, approval evidence, digital-record discipline, and traceable postings. The country-specific details differ, but the operating pattern is the same: the ERP needs controlled records, explicit ownership, defensible state changes, and evidence that survives beyond the person who completed the task.
The control matrix.
| Control area | Requirement | Acceptance proof |
|---|---|---|
| Control 1 | Support Plaid (US), Open Banking UK, and direct SFTP bank statement import (OFX/BAI2/MT940 formats | Given a bank account connected via Plaid with encrypted access token |
| Control 2 | access tokens encrypted at rest using envelope encryption (AES-256 + KMS | when the scheduled sync runs and retrieves new transactions, then each transaction is ingested as a bank feed line with external_id = bank transaction_id (idempotent re-run produces no duplicates), matched against open payments using configurable tolerance, and matched items auto-reconciled |
| Control 3 | token refresh handled transparently without user action | when all open items are matched, the bank account's last-reconciled balance is updated |
| Control 4 | matching engine configurable tolerance (date ±3 days, amount exact or ±$0.01 | negative) when the bank API returns a token-expired error, then the sync is halted, the Finance Controller is alerted with a re-authenticate action link, and no partial data is written. |
| Control 5 | duplicate transaction detection by bank-assigned transaction_id | 90% of bank transactions auto-reconciled; month-end close bank reconciliation time reduced from 2 days to 2 hours. |
| Control 6 | bank feed ingestion Temporal activity is idempotent (external_id = bank transaction_id | 90% of bank transactions auto-reconciled; month-end close bank reconciliation time reduced from 2 days to 2 hours. |
Audit evidence is a chain, not a folder.
| Evidence layer | What should be preserved |
|---|---|
| Business event | Finance Controller connects a bank account by authenticating via the bank's OAuth or Plaid Link flow; Rivane stores the encrypted access token per entity. A scheduled Temporal workflow polls the bank API daily (or receives real-time webhooks) and ingests new transactions as candidate bank feed lines. Each transaction is matched against open payments, receipts, and bank transfers using a configurable matching engine (amount + date ± tolerance, reference number, counterparty). Matched items are auto-reconciled; unmatched items surface in the reconciliation queue for manual review. Reconciliation completion updates the bank account's last-reconciled balance. |
| Control rules | Support Plaid (US), Open Banking UK, and direct SFTP bank statement import (OFX/BAI2/MT940 formats); access tokens encrypted at rest using envelope encryption (AES-256 + KMS); token refresh handled transparently without user action; matching engine configurable tolerance (date ±3 days, amount exact or ±$0.01); duplicate transaction detection by bank-assigned transaction_id; bank feed ingestion Temporal activity is idempotent (external_id = bank transaction_id); reconciliation status updates the GL cash account balance in real time; support ≥50 bank connections per entity. |
| Acceptance proof | Given a bank account connected via Plaid with encrypted access token; when the scheduled sync runs and retrieves new transactions, then each transaction is ingested as a bank feed line with external_id = bank transaction_id (idempotent re-run produces no duplicates), matched against open payments using configurable tolerance, and matched items auto-reconciled; when all open items are matched, the bank account's last-reconciled balance is updated; (negative) when the bank API returns a token-expired error, then the sync is halted, the Finance Controller is alerted with a re-authenticate action link, and no partial data is written. |
| Data record | |
| System event | |
| Lifecycle state | |
The useful version of this workflow is not only fast. It is inspectable. A controller, auditor, or operator should be able to move from source event to system record to state transition to final business outcome without guessing.
Implementation contracts.
Reference data model
`bank_feed_transaction` { feed_txn_id: string, bank_account_id: string, entity_id: string, bank_transaction_id: string, amount_minor: int64, currency_code: char(3), transaction_date: date, description: string, status: enum(UNMATCHED,MATCHED,RECONCILED), external_id: string }; `bank_reconciliation` { recon_id: string, bank_account_id: string, period_end: date, last_reconciled_balance_minor: int64, currency_code: char(3), status: enum(IN_PROGRESS,COMPLETE) }; (reference, product may differ).API and events
`POST /v1/bank-connections` { provider: enum(PLAID,OPEN_BANKING_UK,SFTP), credentials } -> 201 { connection_id }; `POST /v1/bank-connections/{id}/sync` -> 202 { job_id }; `GET /v1/bank-feed-transactions?bank_account_id=&status=`; `POST /v1/bank-reconciliations` { bank_account_id, period_end } -> 201 { recon_id }; emits `bank_feed.sync_complete` and `bank_feed.token_expired` events; idempotent via `external_id` = bank transaction_id.State transitions
`UNMATCHED -> MATCHED -> RECONCILED`; guard: duplicate detection by bank transaction_id; token refresh handled transparently; token expiry halts sync and alerts admin.Common implementation traps.
Treating the workflow as data entry
If the ERP only stores the final record, the team loses the decision trail that explains how the record became valid.
Hiding exception logic
Exceptions need owners, reason codes, and time stamps. A vague pending state is not a control.
Posting without recovery design
Retries, duplicate submissions, and partial failures must be explicit so the system does not create inconsistent records.
Skipping evidence design
A workflow that cannot produce evidence on demand will eventually push finance teams back into manual screenshots and spreadsheets.
Where Rivane fits.
Rivane is built for finance workflows where automation must stay tied to source documents, approvals, state transitions, ledger impact, reporting, and audit evidence. Use this guide as a checklist for evaluating whether an ERP workflow is merely digitized or actually controlled.
References and source basis.
These sources provide the standards, regulatory, or government context around the flow. They are included so the guide is useful to finance operators, auditors, and implementation teams, not only buyers reading software copy.