Shared financial data will aid in improving your business operations and increase your profits. It can also reduce your expenses. However, it’s vital to consider the six points below when making the decision to share the financial information of your business with external organizations.
1. Verify that the services are legitimate.
While certain use cases (such as closings of mortgages that require on demand access to potential lenders) are most effective when the customer is able to grant one-off access, others need to be able to access and share large volumes of information over a prolonged time. Whatever the case it is essential to check the app, company or platform’s reputation and follow its history in the field. Look for reviews on third party websites, app stores, and other media.
2. Consider the breadth of sharing of data
Financial experts and consumers agree that financial technology, or fintech banks, apps, and apps should improve their practices in sharing account information of customers to avoid security risks such as hacking and identity theft. But they’re also skeptical that this will benefit as many people are uneasy about the current concept of data sharing, which may feel patronizing and restricts the potential for gaining insights.
Fintechs and banks might provide a dashboard that lets customers decide how their account data is shared with the apps they use, such as budgeting tools, credit monitoring software and even home value and mortgage tracking. For instance, Wells Fargo, Chase, Citi and Plaid all let customers know what accounts have been shared with these tools and check their settings via their dashboard.