Akoya welcomes Jack Henry to its Data Access Network

By Pavithra R

Akoya, transforming the way consumers provide access to their data with increased security, privacy, and control over their information has announced Jack Henry & Associates, has joined the Akoya Data Access Network.

Under the agreement, more than 400 banks and credit unions (CUs) using Jack Henry’s Banno Digital Platform can securely connect with fintechs and data aggregators through the application programming interface (API)-based network and have access to their financial data. They will also be able to permission which data they share with third parties and revoke that permission at any time, providing peace of mind for customers using new fintech apps.

“Partnering with Akoya gives hundreds of community banks and credit unions the ability to bring more fintech apps within their own ecosystem and empower consumers to better control their data privacy and security. This is the future of banking; a transition away from screen scraping in favor of full financial access through one’s primary financial institution. It’s how community banks and credit unions will compete,” said Ben Metz, Head of Jack Henry Digital.

APIs can eliminate the risks associated with credential-based data aggregation, commonly known as screen scraping, which requires consumers to provide their login credentials to use various fintech apps and services. APIs can improve data access reliability and reduce cybersecurity, privacy, and financial risks through direct, authorized connections between data providers and recipients.

Akoya helps FIs of all sizes to reduce costs by eliminating the need to develop and manage an API infrastructure program on their own. With a single integration on to its network, Akoya connects multiple fintechs and data aggregators with data providers to receive data access using the Financial Data Exchange (FDX) API standard. This eliminates the myriad of internal and external costs required to develop and manage multiple data recipient relationships

“Financial institutions understand the pressing need for secure consumer-permissioned data access but standing up an API infrastructure is complicated and expensive, especially for small-to-midsize financial institutions who don’t have the resources or expertise to build an Open Finance ecosystem themselves. With Jack Henry leveraging the Akoya Data Access Network, Banno Digital Platform clients now have a straightforward API solution that better protects customers who want to share their data with fintech apps and services,” said Stuart Rubinstein, CEO of Akoya.