Finicity Expands Data Access Through APIs Via Agreement With Brex

A month after its purchase by Mastercard was cleared by the Department of Justice (DOJ), open banking platform Finicity announced on Friday (Dec. 18) that it has signed a data access agreement with Brex, a company that provides financial services that help scale early-stage businesses. According to Finicity, the move extends its leadership in providing direct data access through the use of APIs to the FinTech category.

The access will allow Brex customers to link accounts to apps that use Finicity’s secure data network. For example, a Brex customer may configure its accounting app to automatically receive their account transactions, or review their cash flow to establish a line of credit.

“Finicity has been collaborating in earnest with financial institutions in signing data access agreements with banks and other traditional financial institutions. With our agreement with Brex, we are now extending our approach to FinTechs,” said Finicity CEO and Co-founder Steve Smith. “We look forward to working with Brex in pioneering the way financial data is utilized to help businesses grow and achieve their goals.”

Both Finicity and Brex use the Financial Data Exchange (FDX) API standard, which leverages the OAuth standard for authenticating and authorizing account access. According to a statement from Finicity, OAuth eliminates the need for account holders to share login credentials with third parties when granting permission to use its data. Finicity has also established relationships with a wide variety of service and application providers that allow individuals and businesses to better manage and control financial processes.

Mastercard first entered into an agreement to acquire Finicity in June. Speaking about the relationship in a recent conversation with PYMNTS’ Karen Webster, Mastercard Chief Product Officer Craig Vosburg said Finicity will better enable people to access and control their data.

“There's an important role to be played for a trusted intermediary to facilitate that exchange of consumer data in a responsible way that helps encourage innovation,” Vosburg told Webster.

The deal will also give rise to strategic collaborations between traditional FIs and tech-nimble FinTechs. The end result: innovation that benefits all stakeholders — banks, digital-first firms (and digital-only ones) and consumers alike. Vosburg said the movement toward such innovation starts with the data, but doesn’t necessarily end with the payment.

“We haven't even begun to think of all of the potential applications for open banking,” Vosburg said.