Plaid Signs Agreements to Migrate Traffic to Financial Institutions’ APIs

Plaid is expanding its application programming interface (API)-based data sharing network.

The firm is now migrating 100% of its traffic to APIs for financial institutions, including Capital One, J.P. Morgan Chase, USAA and Wells Fargo, Plaid Head of U.S. Financial Institution Partnerships Christy Sunquist wrote in a Thursday (May 11) blog post.

Plaid has also signed agreements with RBC, Citibank and M&T, and it will migrate its traffic to their APIs in the coming months, according to the post.

“Our goal is to remove the need to rely on screen scraping in order for consumers to use the apps and services they want, and the momentum across our API integrations will help the industry get there faster,” Sunquist wrote.

Plaid has been working with financial institutions to set up an API-based data-sharing network for a decade, according to the blog post.

Last year, the company launched Core Exchange, which helps community banks, credit unions, FinTechs and digital banking platforms plug into Plaid’s network via the Financial Data Exchange (FDX) API specification. To date, more than 2,100 such organizations have done so, the post said.

By participating in Core Exchange, they can adopt open banking and enable their customers to connect their accounts to apps in Plaid’s network via API, per the post.

“It’s exciting to see all corners of the industry come together to embrace open finance and unlock exponential value for consumers as they move their financial lives online,” Sunquist wrote.

Partnerships recently announced by Plaid illustrate the benefits open finance can offer to consumers.

For example, Buddy, a budgeting app for Generation Z, partnered with Plaid in April to allow its users to securely connect their financial accounts and track their spending.

In February, Mission Lane expanded its collaboration with Plaid to offer underbanked consumers access to digital payments, financial planning and investment tools, and other resources powered by the Plaid network.

In December, Australian FinTech Airwallex teamed up with Plaid to offer its customers faster automated clearing house (ACH) payments and a safer, cost-efficient way to authorize debits from their bank accounts.