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Account aggregation sometimes also known as financial data aggregation is a method that involves compiling information from different accounts, which may include bank accounts, credit card, payroll accounts [1] , investment accounts, and other consumer or business accounts, into a single place. This may be provided through connecting via an API to the financial institution or provided through "screen scraping" where a user provides the requisite account-access information for an automated system to gather and compile the information into a single page. The security of the account access details as well as the financial information is key to users having confidence in the service. [2]
The database either resides in a web-based application or in client-side software. While such services are primarily designed to aggregate financial information, they sometimes also display other things such as the contents of e-mail boxes and news headlines. [3]
Account aggregator system [4] is a data-sharing system, which helps lenders to conduct an easy and speedy assessment of the creditworthiness of the borrower.
The Account Aggregator system essentially has three important components –
Financial Information Providers has the necessary data about the customer, which it provides to the Financial Information Users. The Financial Information Provider can be a bank, a Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC), mutual fund, insurance repository, pension fund repository, or even your wealth supervisor. The account aggregators [5] act as the intermediary by collecting data from FIPs that hold the customer’s financial data and share that with FIUs such as lending banks/agencies that provide financial services.
The ideas around account aggregation first emerged in the mid 1990s when banks started releasing Internet banking applications.
In the late 1990s services helped users to manage their money on the Internet (typical desktop alternatives include Microsoft Money, Intuit Quicken etc.) in an easy-to-use manner wherein they got functionalities like single password, one-click access to current account data, total net worth and expense analysis.
One of the first major account aggregation services was Citibank's My Accounts service, though this service ended in late 2005 without explanation from Citibank. Much has been said in the financial services and banking industry as to the benefits of account aggregation – principally the customer and web site loyalty it might generate for providers – but the lack of responsibility and commitment by the providers is one reason for skepticism about committing to those same providers.
Account aggregation evolved with single sign-on (SSO) at most major banks such as Bank of America. With SSO (usually implemented via SAML) major financial institutions are now expanding their aggregation services into new areas. Rich Presentment (getting all the information about a bill that you owe) is a service that uses aggregation extensively and can be seen at AOL, using AOL Bill Pay. Aggregation also powers applications such as funds transfer, new account opening, card-based bill pay and so on.
Independent financial advisers are another group on which account aggregators began focusing their attention. Having seen increasing competition from the other different financial advisers, positioning themselves as their client's primary advisor was not as easy as it once was.
Starting in 2015 developments such as open banking made it easier for third parties to access bank transaction data and introduced standard API and security models.
By integrating data from bank accounts, payroll systems and other financial sources, account aggregation provides a holistic picture of a borrower’s financial situation and verification of employment. By leveraging the technology, lenders can meet the rigorous standards set by entities like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, ensuring compliance while benefiting from increased operational efficiency.
Online banking, also known as internet banking, virtual banking, web banking or home banking, is a system that enables customers of a bank or other financial institution to conduct a range of financial transactions through the financial institution's website or mobile app. Since the early 2000s this has become the most common way that customers access their bank accounts.
Single sign-on (SSO) is an authentication scheme that allows a user to log in with a single ID to any of several related, yet independent, software systems.
A one-time password (OTP), also known as a one-time PIN, one-time authorization code (OTAC) or dynamic password, is a password that is valid for only one login session or transaction, on a computer system or other digital device. OTPs avoid several shortcomings that are associated with traditional (static) password-based authentication; a number of implementations also incorporate two-factor authentication by ensuring that the one-time password requires access to something a person has as well as something a person knows.
A credit bureau is a data collection agency that gathers account information from various creditors and provides that information to a consumer reporting agency in the United States, a credit reference agency in the United Kingdom, a credit reporting body in Australia, a credit information company (CIC) in India, a Special Accessing Entity in the Philippines, and also to private lenders. It is not the same as a credit rating agency.
Verification of Income and Employment (VOIE) is a process used by banks and mortgage lenders in the United States to review the employment history of a borrower, to determine the borrower's job stability and cross-reference income history with that stated on the Uniform Residential Loan Application. Lenders require complete VOE declaring all positions held for the last two years of employment history.
Mobile banking is a service provided by a bank or other financial institution that allows its customers to conduct financial transactions remotely using a mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet. Unlike the related internet banking it uses software, usually called an app, provided by the financial institution for the purpose. Mobile banking is usually available on a 24-hour basis. Some financial institutions have restrictions on which accounts may be accessed through mobile banking, as well as a limit on the amount that can be transacted. Mobile banking is dependent on the availability of an internet or data connection to the mobile device.
A bank statement is an official summary of financial transactions occurring within a given period for each bank account held by a person or business with a financial institution. Such statements are prepared by the financial institution, are numbered and indicate the period covered by the statement, and may contain other relevant information for the account type, such as how much is payable by a certain date. The start date of the statement period is usually the day after the end of the previous statement period.
Electronic billing or electronic bill payment and presentment, is when a seller such as company, organization, or group sends its bills or invoices over the internet, and customers pay the bills electronically. This replaces the traditional method where invoices are sent in paper form and payments are done by manual means such as sending cheques.
SMS banking' is a form of mobile banking. It is a facility used by some banks or other financial institutions to send messages to customers' mobile phones using SMS messaging, or a service provided by them which enables customers to perform some financial transactions using SMS.
Core banking is a banking service provided by a group of networked bank branches where customers may access their bank account and perform basic transactions from any of the member branch offices.
Password fatigue is the feeling experienced by many people who are required to remember an excessive number of passwords as part of their daily routine, such as to log in to a computer at work, undo a bicycle lock or conduct banking from an automated teller machine. The concept is also known as password chaos, or more broadly as identity chaos.
Data aggregation is the compiling of information from databases with intent to prepare combined datasets for data processing.
Mint, also known as Intuit Mint and formerly known as Mint.com, was a personal financial management website and mobile app for the US and Canada produced by Intuit, Inc..
Social network aggregation is the process of collecting content from multiple social network services into a unified presentation. Examples of social network aggregators include Hootsuite or FriendFeed, which may pull together information into a single location or help a user consolidate multiple social networking profiles into a single profile.
Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) is a company registered under the Companies Act, 1956 of India, engaged in the business of loans and advances, acquisition of shares, stock, bonds, hire-purchase insurance business or chit-fund business, but does not include any institution whose principal business is that of agriculture, industrial activity, purchase or sale of any goods or providing any services and sale/purchase/construction of immovable property.
Multi-factor authentication is an electronic authentication method in which a user is granted access to a website or application only after successfully presenting two or more pieces of evidence to an authentication mechanism. MFA protects personal data—which may include personal identification or financial assets—from being accessed by an unauthorized third party that may have been able to discover, for example, a single password.
SAP Logon Tickets represent user credentials in SAP systems. When enabled, users can access multiple SAP applications and services through SAP GUI and web browsers without further username and password inputs from the user. SAP Logon Tickets can also be a vehicle for enabling single sign-on across SAP boundaries; in some cases, logon tickets can be used to authenticate into 3rd party applications such as Microsoft-based web applications.
Money Dashboard is a free online personal financial management service in the United Kingdom. It provides users with the ability to view all of their online financial accounts in one place and categorises and analyses all of their transactions so they can understand how they use money. The app aims to help consumers make better financial decisions and budget for the future.
In financial services, open banking allows for financial data to be shared between banks and third-party service providers through the use of application programming interfaces (APIs). Traditionally, banks have kept customer financial data within their own closed systems. Open banking allows customers to share their financial information securely and electronically with other banks or other authorized financial organizations such as payment providers, lenders and insurance companies.
Banking as a service (BaaS) is the provision of banking products to non-bank third parties through APIs.