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Canada calls screen scraping ‘unsecure,’ sets Open Banking target for 2023

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Re: Canada calls screen scraping ‘unsecure,’ sets Open Banking target for 2023

#22

This may be driven by TD's suit against Plaid From this source https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=8f56092c-ab40... "Users have complained that after connecting their bank accounts, Plaid stores their credentials and uses them to collect 5 years’ of transactional data and continues to track users’ data in future. Users further claim that the data-gathering scheme is not incidental to Plaid’s business model…

This came out of a discovery and recommendation process that has been ongoing since 2018 - https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/news/2018/09/min...

Re: Canada calls screen scraping ‘unsecure,’ sets Open Banking target for 2023

#23

I'm guessing from this that Canada's banks are upset about getting their grass cut and are looking to regulate new entrants out of business. That's usually what a "made in Canada" solution means.

Nope. Canadian gov is just saying users need a way to authorize limited use to my banking data so we can use YNAB and other stuff without resorting to scraping like Plaid or Mint does. Some online banks have setup specific auth codes for these services but most do not.

Would be nice to aggregate my data without giving them keys to my kingdom.

Re: Canada calls screen scraping ‘unsecure,’ sets Open Banking target for 2023

#24
To everyone in this thread complaining that this is just Canada being Canada and trying to snuff out the upstarts... what the fuck are you going on about?

I'm a US citizen and I want this screen scraping / credential sharing / whatever you want to call it to die in a fire already. Forcing banks to implement any sort of API access seems both preferable to the dumpster fire we have today, as well as more inviting to upstarts, because right now the only way to be an upstart is to literally ask your customers to violate their bank's terms of service.

Re: Canada calls screen scraping ‘unsecure,’ sets Open Banking target for 2023

#25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Tangerine At least they used to have decent interest rates... now what's the point? they don't even have physical banks.

Low/no fees mostly. A standard bank account at the big banks gives you few Interac transactions, for example, unless you either pay $12.99 a month or have >$3,000 in your account at all times. Tangerine provides unlimited Interac payments on a chequing account with no monthly fee.

[deleted]

Re: Canada calls screen scraping ‘unsecure,’ sets Open Banking target for 2023

#26

This may be driven by TD's suit against Plaid From this source https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=8f56092c-ab40... "Users have complained that after connecting their bank accounts, Plaid stores their credentials and uses them to collect 5 years’ of transactional data and continues to track users’ data in future. Users further claim that the data-gathering scheme is not incidental to Plaid’s business model…

Holy smokes, that is shady and scary.

Re: Canada calls screen scraping ‘unsecure,’ sets Open Banking target for 2023

#27

It's about time. When I learned that applications like YNAB (You Need A Budget) use services like Plaid to connect to my bank account, and that these services literally take my username and password and impersonate me to get my banking data, I was a little sketched out. I use YNAB every day, and having it connected to my bank account is incredibly useful, but if something goes wrong and Plaid loses my money somehow,…

To be fair, YNAB is rather explicit about how it connects to your accounts and also actively recommends against doing so in favor of manually entering your transactions. My experience with connecting the two is that I still need to manually validate every transaction because on occasion Plaid is either slow or just misses entries entirely.

Also in the case of YNAB, Plaid is not posting transactions on your accounts. It's a screen scraping service transferring account data.

Re: Canada calls screen scraping ‘unsecure,’ sets Open Banking target for 2023

#28
post #24

To everyone in this thread complaining that this is just Canada being Canada and trying to snuff out the upstarts... what the fuck are you going on about? I'm a US citizen and I want this screen scraping / credential sharing / whatever you want to call it to die in a fire already. Forcing banks to implement any sort of API access seems both preferable to the dumpster fire we have today, as well as more inviting to up…

I guess you're talking to me. I'm not arguing for screen scraping. I'm stating my experience as a Canadian that our oligopolies use legislation like this as a way to discourage competition, under the guise of helping users. And they rely on people like you to talk about how great it is that we're all getting a made in Canada open banking solution when what we'll really get is something that makes new entry impossible and locks users in to the big 5 banks. Look at our vibrant telecommunications sector for a similar example.

Edit: I see this is a losing battle, the comments responding to the parent seem to imply that he is championing open banking against a group that disagree with it. And the replies to me think that I don't want open banking. Enjoy your discussion

Re: Canada calls screen scraping ‘unsecure,’ sets Open Banking target for 2023

#29
post #24

To everyone in this thread complaining that this is just Canada being Canada and trying to snuff out the upstarts... what the fuck are you going on about? I'm a US citizen and I want this screen scraping / credential sharing / whatever you want to call it to die in a fire already. Forcing banks to implement any sort of API access seems both preferable to the dumpster fire we have today, as well as more inviting to up…

I'm from the UK and can confirm: open banking has massively helped startups. My local credit union now underwrites based on open banking data, I have a neat budgeting app, I can see all my accounts in one place, and best of all, I can approve or revoke credentials at will. Nobody gets anything but read access. It is mind blowing to me that there are people stuck using screen scraping.

Re: Canada calls screen scraping ‘unsecure,’ sets Open Banking target for 2023

#30

This may be driven by TD's suit against Plaid From this source https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=8f56092c-ab40... "Users have complained that after connecting their bank accounts, Plaid stores their credentials and uses them to collect 5 years’ of transactional data and continues to track users’ data in future. Users further claim that the data-gathering scheme is not incidental to Plaid’s business model…

Wow, I just assumed Plaid was part of some kind of interbank consortium. I can’t believe a service that big can be based on that model. It’s interesting how HF trading can be so cutting edge while consumer banking is 15-20 years behind.
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