PNC Integrates With Akoya Data Access Network for Financial App Security

PNC Bank and Akoya LLC on Thursday (Sept. 30) announced the bank is integrating with the Akoya Data Access Network to allow PNC customers to share their financial data securely with FinTechs and data aggregators through its application programming interface (API) network.

“PNC takes very seriously our responsibility to protect the financial and account information that our customers entrust to us,” said PNC Chairman, President and CEO William S. Demchak in the company announcement.

“Many customers assume it is safe to provide their sensitive information to the financial app of their choice,” he said. “However, we know this information has been used for unauthorized access to customer accounts. That is why we have been taking interim steps to provide accessibility and security — and with today’s announcement, we are providing a permanent solution for striking the right balance between customer choice and data protection.”

PNC customers will give permission through Akoya to share their account information with financial apps with no usernames and passwords. PNC customers will also be able to monitor and deny access to FinTechs and data aggregators who are part of the Akoya Data Access Network.

“By teaming up with Akoya, we are fulfilling our vision of wide-scale API adoption for financial data aggregation and giving our customers increased protection, transparency and control over their financial information,” said Natalie Talpas, senior vice president, group manager, digital at PNC, in the joint announcement.

“It is imperative that financial institutions, FinTechs and data aggregators of all sizes work together to create a safer path for consumers to share their financial data and move away from less secure data-sharing methods,” she said.

No data accessed and shared through the Akoya Data Access Network is copied or stored by Akoya.

“PNC is in production and available to FinTechs and data aggregators who are on our network,” said Stuart Rubinstein, CEO of Akoya, in the joint announcement. “We have worked tirelessly to streamline our integration process so that data providers can onboard and provide an API-based alternative for financial data aggregation as quickly as possible.”

Related: PNC On Redesigning Branch Banking With A Digital-First Approach

Demchak noted earlier this year that digital sales must offset the lost revenues for the closures of 280 branches by the end of this year to work, and the executive said in a virtual conference last fall that the strategy is working.