Original text here from Patrice Bernard (LinkedIn)
Apple is firmly making its mark in the finance world, introducing a new feature in the latest iPhone operating system update that caters to the contemporary demands for data openness, all while maintaining its hallmark approach of radical simplification.
The introduction of FinanceKit, available to developers in iOS version 17.4 but currently only in the US market, allows for seamless integration of financial details (such as descriptions, balances, and transactions) from Apple's banking solutions: the Apple Card, Apple Cash for peer-to-peer payments, and Savings accounts. Notably absent, however, is the installment payment option (Apple Pay Later).
Apple's unique position, being both a provider of financial products and the sole controller of the technical infrastructure in which they're implemented, offers an unmatched experience for businesses looking to leverage this new opportunity. It does so through a standard API, which operates like any other that allows apps to interact with the phone and its components, be they hardware or software.
With the only requirement being the end user's explicit consent to share their data (as is the case with all sensitive categories like identity and geographical location), developers can easily access account features, balances, and transaction histories. Not surprisingly, the first to adopt this are startups specializing in personal finance management, such as YNAB.
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Currently, due to its limited scope to Apple's services, this new feature has a restricted utility, suitable only for very specific use cases—targeting, for example, solely the brand's cardholders or those with no other banking relationships, which could also be seen as an indirect aim for Apple—or as a supplementary tool alongside other "open banking" connection methods.
However, it's intriguing to consider how this approach could be expanded, perhaps following the initial integration efforts with open banking interfaces started in the UK. Could the collected data be redistributed through a universal gateway? Or might financial institutions themselves be given the ability to share their app data via such a hub?
Apple taking on the role of aggregator would certainly simplify the process for solution designers needing access to accounts, albeit within its own, closed ecosystem. Yet, the data-holding institutions would likely have reservations about such widespread access… not to mention the regulatory compliance aspects that would still need to be verified.
