The most secure scenario would be for an accountholder to be the only one who can access their account. That said, users are connecting their financial accounts with or without our integration to these data aggregators. The security benefit of this integration lies in something called an API token – the most secure way to provide authentication credentials on the internet today – where users’ credentials are stored within a “token” that does not expose their details.

We use an open security standard called OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect – meaning any other platform that supports this standard can easily and securely integrate with our platform. If one of these services does not support this standard on their own, our integration with them creates a secure bridge between our own security protocols and theirs, providing an additional layer of security that’s up to our standards.

Increased visibility is another security benefit of these strategic integrations. Logins through a data aggregation service will display in Banno Activity and you’ll know that it’s the service – not the user – who is logging in. And for your accountholders, this integration also allows users to manage which apps they’ve shared their financial data with directly in Banno Online.

When the user authenticates their account within an app that uses any of these data aggregators, any login protocols you have in place still apply.

No, however we highly recommend utilizing these integrations, and they are enabled by default at zero cost to you. Opting out won’t change the fact that accountholders can still use these services to connect back to your financial institution – this integration just adds additional layers of security and an improved experience.

Users will have a smoother, faster experience in connecting their accounts with less chance of the connection breaking down the road. Truthfully, the changes on the surface may not even be noticed by users, and often they aren’t even aware that these services exist or how the account connection process works – they just know (and expect) that it does. Behind the scenes, accounts will be kept much more secure.

It’s up to you whether you communicate this change with your accountholders. They may not even realize that anything has changed. That said, this integration can help position you as a technology – embracing financial institution who cares about helping users connect to the apps they love. Their connections will be more seamless and more secure. Users may also want to know that they will now have more visibility into which services they’ve connected their account to – right within digital banking.

Development is currently underway to bring these integrations to every financial institution using Banno. We’ll keep you posted when they become available.

We’re happy to bring integrations with these data aggregators to you at zero-cost and zero-lift.