Originally featured in Finextra, Kani CEO and founder Aaron Holmes reflects on how the payments industry has changed and why data clarity remains one of the biggest challenges facing fintechs today.
From manual chaos to data clarity
When I first entered the payments space nearly two decades ago, reconciliation was a manual slog. Teams were buried in spreadsheets, tracing transactions and hunting mismatches—often for days at a time. What should have been straightforward was anything but.
Technology has moved on, but the core issue remains: payments data is messy, fragmented and hard to trust.
Solving the data problem means treating raw inputs not just as information, but as infrastructure. When data is standardised, complete and traceable, it stops being a blocker and becomes a platform—one that enables lightning-fast reconciliation, confident reporting and iron-clad compliance at scale.
The root problem: fragmented, ambiguous data
Payments data rarely arrives clean or consistent. It comes from banks, processors, schemes and acquirers—each with their own formats, field names and definitions. One file says “settled,” another says “cleared,” a third says “posted.”
Same action, different terms. Or worse: different actions described the same way.
Multiply this across partners, currencies and time zones, and you’re facing a reconciliation puzzle before you’ve even begun.
The cost? Missed revenue. Compliance gaps. Reputational risk. And with fintechs scaling fast and regulation tightening, the stakes have never been higher.
The myth of matching
There’s a common misconception that reconciliation is all about matching numbers.
In reality, the hard work happens long before that. You need to clean the data, structure it and understand what it’s really telling you long before any reconciliation takes place.
We’ve worked with companies of every shape and size, and the story’s always the same: messy data is the biggest blocker.
That’s why we built Kani to focus first on transforming data. Once the groundwork’s solid, matching, reporting and analytics flow naturally.
New pressures: speed and scrutiny
The environment today is very different from when I started.
We’ve moved from monthly reports to real-time expectations. Customers want instant updates. Regulators demand timely submissions. Finance teams need live visibility to make confident decisions.
To meet these rising demands, the data itself needs to be up to the task. Speed means nothing if the inputs are flawed. Without a solid foundation, even the most advanced systems will fail under pressure.
Why clean data changes everything
A solid data foundation is the difference between barely coping and operating at scale. When your data is structured, validated and complete, you can:
- Reconcile transactions in hours instead of days
- Trigger reports without wrangling formats
- Trace any record, across any partner, at any time
- Flag anomalies before they turn into real problems
Clean data unlocks operational clarity. It means fewer surprises, faster cycles and the confidence to make decisions without looking over your shoulder.
That’s why I founded Kani: to help teams stop firefighting and start building systems they can actually rely on.
What’s next: clarity at scale
Payments is evolving fast. Embedded finance, AI and decentralised systems are reshaping the space daily.
With complexity rising, we’re:
- Investing in smarter anomaly detection
- Expanding our integrations
- Co-creating tools with clients that solve real-world problems
But whatever changes, our mission stays the same: clarity.
Because when your data’s clear, your business flows better. You move faster. Make smarter decisions. And build the kind of trust that keeps the system running smoothly.
At Kani, we’re building the infrastructure that turns payments data from a liability into an advantage. By automating reconciliation, reporting and analytics, we help fintechs and issuers move faster, stay compliant and scale with clarity.
Want to find out more? Book a demo here
