Account aggregation is the key to delivering personalized financial experiences and solutions to consumers, and financial account aggregators make it possible to leverage the data needed for these experiences and solutions. By bringing consumer’s financial data from different accounts together, account aggregation enables consumers to get a more complete picture of their financial life, and they can share their information to receive personalized advice, tailored financial products, and more.
What is Account Aggregation?
Account aggregation is a software that collects financial data from various sources, including banks, credit cards, and investment accounts, and consolidates it to a single platform to provide a holistic, easily viewed and analyzed perspective on personal finances.
Top Benefits of Account Aggregation
Using an account aggregator to consolidate financial accounts into a single view has many benefits.
1. Increased Visibility
One main benefit of financial data aggregators is that they enable consumers to view account information from multiple data sources under a single username and password. More visibility can mean more informed decisions, enhanced client-advisor relationships, and more meaningful recommendations.
2. Time Savings
Having financial information that is up-to-date and available online means less manual updating, gathering, or filing of consumer’s data. This can save time, improve collaboration, and reduce client confusion.
3. A Comprehensive View
Financial data aggregators provide a full, unfiltered picture of a client’s financial situation, including held-away assets and net-worth data, allowing financial and wealth management advisors to offer more comprehensive advice and guidance.
4. More Personalized Products and Services
By using data aggregation, financial institutions can offer more relevant and personalized financial and wealth management services, accelerate payment processing, deliver personalized financial wellness advice, and more.
Choosing a Financial Account Aggregator
There are a few key features to look for when evaluating account aggregation solutions:
1. Breadth of Data and Connections
In order to seamlessly connect consumers’ financial information and power personalized solutions for banking, wealth management, fintech, and more, a data aggregation solution should be able to leverage data from thousands of global data sources. Comprehensive coverage enables financial service providers to streamline the process of onboarding and authenticating customers and their accounts from financial institutions all over the world.
2. Ease of Use
Account aggregation solutions should make it easy for customers to set up their accounts and get started. Intuitive and fast account linking and account verification are critical for the best customer experiences,
3. Data Clarity
Any account aggregation platform you use should be able to turn raw, confusing data into clear, contextualized data so consumers can understand their transactions without needing to call customer service for details. Clear transaction data can also provide customer insights that help financial service providers better serve their customers and deliver financial solutions that matter in the moment.
4. Open Finance
Working with a financial account aggregator who is prepared for open finance can drive significant benefits as the open finance movement accelerates. The ability to leverage consumer-permissioned data across a broader range of financial sectors and products like mortgages, auto loans, insurance policies and more, can drive industry innovation and increase consumer choice.
5. Secure API Connections
As open finance grows, the security of financial data is a primary focus. Financial institutions and third-party firms must meet regulatory rules and requirements in order to connect to financial data, so they share a deep interest in providing customers with the most secure banking experience possible.
An established, reliable account aggregation provider can safely and securely connect to consumer-permissioned financial account information through robust APIs. These APIs enable regulatory compliance and uphold stringent and uniform security standards for data access; transparency around data usage; and user-based permission and control, empowering financial institutions and non-banking innovators to offer more competitive and personalized services for consumers.
Market Leading Account Aggregation Solutions
As a global leader in data aggregation and data analytics, Envestnet | Yodlee has been powering innovation and insights for financial service providers and tech firms and their customers for more than 20 years. By connecting vast, enriched data sets, surfacing actionable insights, and enabling dynamic experiences, Envestnet | Yodlee’s data aggregation service helps uncover valuable growth opportunities and drive better outcomes for enterprises, advisors and their clients.
Over 700 tech companies and 16 of the top 20 U.S. banks rely on Envestnet | Yodlee’s data science tools and 19,000+ global data sources to empower retail banking, credit and lending, open banking, wealth management, financial wellness, and other services. For more information on account aggregation solutions and APIs designed to meet growing digital banking demands, just reach out.
