Before the dot come crash, Aggregation was all the rage amongst banks, and they were falling over themselves to get into it. Then the research started to come in, indicating consumers were cool to Aggregation, and in particular if there was going to be any “advertising” associated. Then the crash happened, and Aggregation waned.
Aggregation, is the ability to pull information from more than one institution, into one single view. Best known for this is Yodlee.
All Yodlee solutions are powered by a patented technology, known in the industry as Account Aggregation, which is built into the Yodlee Platform.
Some banks stuck with it – here is a selection:
Evolution:
Aggregation got a bad rap for the reasons above, and looking at the implementations that do exist here, in Banks’, they have interaed aggregation seamlessly with online banking, and frankly don’t oversell the notion that you can pull in information from other Banks into your financial view.
Part of the evolution is the realisation, that Aggregation in itself is a non-starter. However when considered as a tool to supplement financial planning, and money management, then the true consumer value begins to surface.
Nonetheless, the consumer concerns regarding privacy, security and confidentiality of information remain to be addressed.
Bankwatch 