Was intrigued to read in the latest Fintech 🧠 Food that @Plaid has launched a beta product called My Plaid (http://my.plaid.com) that allows users to see which companies they are sharing their financial data with 🧐
Naturally, I wanted to take it out for a spin…
For now, it doesn't seem to have the capability to see which companies have access to data. You can only add accounts, like any personal finance app out there, and see an aggregated view of accounts.
So, nothing *too* differentiated for now 🤷🏽♂️
Where it breaks down potentially is that this will likely only work where the origin/destination of financial data uses Plaid APIs.
The alternative – as @ACTobin from @evernym put it – is to “make the user their own API” 💡
And THAT is why I'm bullish about the application of #selfsovereignidentity in #fintech:
1. It goes beyond the scope of what data is available under Open Banking (mostly current accounts & credit cards)
2. It doesn't rely on a single, proprietary vendor like Plaid to work
In a way, I'm glad Plaid is doing this now because it demonstrates clear product-market fit and demand for digital identity services, that we *can* solve in a more efficient and privacy-preserving fashion @cheqd_io 👍🏽
It’s taken SEVEN years since Open Banking regulations were defined in Europe to get to any semblance of consistent access for users being able to take their current/card account data elsewhere.
And this has arguably been GOOD for competition and more consumer choice.
If the financial services industry tried to solve data portability with traditional means, I can see this taking another half a decade.
Do we really want to wait that long? Or will we see bolder fintechs embracing new standards in DeFi identity eat the lunch of incumbents again?
Originally tweeted by Ankur Banerjee (@ankurb) on 22 August 2021.