MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Open Financial ExchangeTM (OFX) Consortium today released OFX 2.2 for public comment. The updated specification offers financial institutions safe and secure data aggregation as well as enhanced data element support which includes support for credential-less OAuth or similar token-based authentication models.
The explosion of fintech apps using data aggregation in recent years has led financial institutions to explore more efficient and higher quality data access methods for their account holders. With OFX 2.2 compliant servers and a tokenized authentication solution, financial institutions can now direct aggregators and financial apps to access account holder data through dedicated servers using temporary access tokens. Additionally, new data tags in statement messages such as interest rates and last payment amount will enable financial institutions to supply enhanced data to account holders.
With these updates, the OFX 2.2 specification delivers a secure, robust, and proven standard for financial institutions seeking to stand up a data API for aggregators and financial apps.
With implementations at over 7,000 financial Institutions, OFX is the most widely deployed financial data sharing standard. “OFX helps the financial industry reduce friction so customers get a better experience with their chosen accounting or fintech applications, and more reliable access to their financial data. OFX has enabled Silicon Valley Bank to integrate with fintech partners in a secure and scalable way to provide higher quality data to mutual clients,” said Bruce Wallace, Chief Digital Officer at Silicon Valley Bank.
"At Square 1 (a division of Pacific Western Bank), our goal is to empower our clients to interact with us in ways that are intuitive to them – whether it’s online through their desktops or mobile devices, through 3rd party applications or via direct connections. Implementing OFX 2.2 gives us a well-tested and easy to use protocol, as well as the confidence that we are improving our customers’ experience with a secure and high quality data connection,” said Arthur Wasson, Head of Venture Capital Services, Square 1 Bank.
For any financial institution without an existing OFX server, standard off-the-shelf implementations are available from industry leading systems integrators and core systems providers. For financial institutions with existing OFX installations, an upgrade to OFX 2.2 maintains backwards compatibility. Broad deployment across top financial institutions and financial applications coupled with the durability of the standard, make OFX 2.2 an attractive implementation option.
About OFX: OFX has been the dominant direct API for banks to provide data to financial applications since 1997. It is actively deployed at over 7,000 financial institutions, and the remaining institutions have easy access to certified OFX servers via all major technology providers and systems integrators. More information can be found at http://www.OFX.org.
About the OFX Consortium: The OFX Consortium was relaunched in 2015 by Intuit, Xero, Enterprise Engineering Inc., Finicity, and Silicon Valley Bank, with contributions from 9 additional member organizations including Envestnet® | Yodlee®, Innovision, and Plaid. With over 7,000 financial institution technology adopters, the Consortium is driven by a common mission to securely and reliably exchange financial data between financial institutions, businesses, and consumers through fintech applications as well as the Internet. The Consortium was originally founded in 1997 by Intuit, Microsoft, and Checkfree (Fiserv).
Participation in the forum is free and voluntary.