Wells Fargo, Finicity Team To Provide An API-Based Way Of Sharing Customer Information

Wells Fargo & Company announced Wednesday (April 5) that it and Finicity, a provider of real-time financial data aggregation and insights, have signed an agreement that provides an application programming interface (API)–based method for sharing Wells Fargo customer information with the financial apps and services that Finicity supports.

In a press release, Wells Fargo said Finicity is the first data aggregation provider to enter into a data exchange agreement with Wells Fargo, enabling third-party applications to access Wells Fargo customer data. This agreement benefits the broader financial application developer community by allowing the apps and services that rely on Finicity’s APIs to access Wells Fargo customer-permissioned data once the proper authorizations are obtained, the companies said in the prepared statement.

“We’re continually implementing strategies that ensure the highest levels of data quality, speed and uptime in our industry,” said Finicity CEO Steve Smith. “This agreement will provide Wells Fargo customers using Finicity API partner apps and services greater control over their financial information.”

In addition to sharing data, the direct access relationship between the two eliminates the need for the user to provide credentials through third-party apps. That is replaced with direct authorization through Wells Fargo and subsequent authentication through tokenized access, Wells Fargo said.

“Establishing a data-sharing process with a provider like Finicity creates a much better experience for our customers,” said Brett Pitts, head of digital for Wells Fargo Virtual Channels, in the same press release. “This allows our customers to choose where and how to use their financial data, while also maintaining the privacy of their user credentials.”

Finicity has relationships with a variety of service and application providers that allow individuals and organizations to manage financial processes. This includes providing data aggregation for several of the most popular personal financial management (PFM) tools currently available on the market. The data sharing between Wells Fargo and Finicity is expected to happen during the summer. At that time, Wells Fargo customers can directly and securely connect with Wells Fargo while using financial management tools that use the Finicity financial data API. Finicity will access Wells Fargo’s data exchange API on Wells Fargo’s Gateway Channel developer portal, which was launched in September 2016. Wells Fargo Gateway offers APIs that allow commercial and corporate banking customers to integrate Wells Fargo products, services and information into their own digital environments, Wells Fargo noted.