Fiserv and Akoya release data sharing agreement

US-based payments fintech Fiserv and Akoya, an API-only network for consumer-permissioned data sharing, have collaborated on a new data sharing agreement.

The two companies said their data sharing agreement will facilitate “broad, reliable and secure access to data”, allowing consumers to share their data, with permission, among financial institutions and through merchant and third-party apps.

Under the new agreement, Fiserv will have direct API access to consumer data from Akoya’s network of financial institutions and brokerage firms, while Akoya will use Fiserv’s ‘AllData Connect’ to access consumer data from more than 2,800 financial institutions.

‘AllData Connect’ validates the consumer directly with their bank or credit union and issues a token that the third party uses to access and update consumer data via ‘AllData Connect’, removing the need for consumers to share their banking credentials with third parties.

Paul LaRusso, chief executive officer of Akoya, said: “This will help consumers manage exactly who they give their data to and understand how their data will be accessed and used.

“100% of Akoya’s traffic to financial institutions goes through APIs. Akoya doesn’t ask for consumers’ passwords, and it doesn’t screen-scrape. All consumers deserve this protection and control.”

“Fiserv and Akoya are empowering consumers to share their data by creating a broader and more secure data access network,” added Matt Wilcox, president of digital payments at Fiserv.

“Direct access to data facilitates more integrated digital experiences for consumers and improves the security of the financial ecosystem.”

In addition, merchants will be able to offer Pay by Bank as an option, so that consumers can link their bank account to the merchant’s wallet or app to make direct payments to the merchant via Fiserv’s ‘Carat’ global commerce platform.