Plaid has launched a new data privacy product – Permissions Manager – which enables their financial services partners “to help put consumers in control of their own data from initial account connections to ongoing connection management.”
Plaid’s consumer research has shown that today people “generally go directly to the fintech app to end a connection — therefore consumers increasingly see their financial institution as ‘home base.'”
It’s all about “giving consumers more channels to view and control their data sharing connections wherever, and however, is most convenient for them.” Permissions Manager enables an additional channel for consumers “to control their Plaid-powered connections.”
Permissions Manager is “available to financial institutions that are implementing API connectivity via Plaid’s open finance solutions Core Exchange (FDX-aligned), Plaid Exchange, or custom API builds – both in the U.S. and Canada. Several partners are already live with Permissions Manager, including large banks and fintechs (including Wise).”
Permissions Manager joins Plaid Link (privacy panes) and Plaid Portal in their privacy controls suite of products, which are “available at no cost, making it easy for FIs and fintechs of all sizes to strengthen their customer relationships and be industry leaders in consumer data privacy.””
Permissions Manager is “an API data privacy product that allows FIs to build their own consumer permissions portal and gives their customers greater visibility and control over their data sharing connections made through Plaid.”
These products “enhance Plaid’s Data Connectivity solutions, leveraging our deep expertise in the open finance space to offer flexible data privacy implementation options.” This suite also helps “to support adoption of Core Exchange and single token by providing data partners with the consumer privacy tools, visibility, and control they want.”
The Privacy Controls suite includes 3 products: Permissions Manager, Plaid Portal, and Link privacy panes.
- Plaid Portal: Plaid Portal (available on web my.plaid.com and via the Plaid Portal App) enables consumers to view and control the connections they’ve made through Plaid, on a Plaid-owned and hosted domain
- Plaid Link: These are Link experiences that give consumers more control and transparency into the types of data they’re sharing with apps. These panes include: the Consent Pane, Data Transparency Messaging (launched in Beta Sept 7, 2022) which educates consumers on the types of data they’re sharing, and the Account Select Pane (ASv2) which enables users to select which accounts they want to share.
- How Permissions Manager works: The FI builds the UI within their web/mobile experience, and Plaid provides the real-time data needed to give consumers greater visibility and control over their data sharing connections made through Plaid. FIs can also build new digital capabilities into their existing web and mobile experiences, helping them stay at the center of their customers’ financial lives.
Sheila Jambekar, chief privacy officer, Plaid, said:
“Plaid believes in enhancing transparency, security and privacy so that people can confidently manage their finances in all of the myriad ways they believe will help them lead healthier financial lives. Permissions Manager brings financial data access and control directly into the hands of consumers who deserve it and who have been asking for it. It is Plaid’s newest product innovation in a suite of data privacy offerings and adds a layer of transparency, security, and control for consumers throughout the data sharing lifecycle.”
Ankita D’Mello, Senior Product Manager at Wise, said:
“With Permissions Manager, our customers can easily make changes to which apps are linked to their Wise account. When customers can see the changes in their data permissions in real-time, it builds a layer of trust.”