What are bank connection interfaces?

Sooner or later, you will come across the term “bank connection interface”. This has to do with the PSD2 regulation, that requires banks to provide special interfaces that comply with EU regulations.

At the same time, banks also provide more “traditional” ways to connect. In Germany this is typically the FinTS standard.

Last but not least, some banks do not provided any of that, or only deliver part of their data via “official” APIs. This is the use-case for the last interface type, which is web-scraping.

One bank - many interfaces

In result, this presents the challenge that a banks data may be hidden behind different interfaces. Each interface may have a slightly different way to authenticate as well. Typically, each interface delivers a different set of data entities. What is delivered is bank specific, but the following “rule-of-thumb” applies:

PSD2 (also called XS2A): Checking accounts (Girokonten)

FinTS: Portfolios, Savings Accounts and sometimes Credit Cards. These interfaces may also deliver checking accounts but usually without transaction history (as the regulator now forces banks to use PSD2 interfaces)

Web-Scraping: Everything the above interfaces did not deliver. Usually not checking accounts, as these must now be provided via XS2A interface.

Oh my - that sounds complex

It does - and it is. Luckily, we make your life easier by providing the web-form for third party providers. Our web-form flow guides the user through the process, also handling frequent error cases. This means you do not have to care about all this complexity but just point your users at the right URL.