March 2019 Summaries

Link has expanded its banking coverage in Canada, now supporting major institutions like Desjardins, National Bank of Canada, President's Choice, and Simplii, as well as multiple credit unions such as Vancity and Coast Capital Savings. To enhance user experience, a new country filter feature allows developers to display only Canadian institutions, only US institutions, or both, streamlining the process for Canadian users and potentially increasing conversion rates for apps or digital services. This update aims to provide a more seamless integration experience for users and developers interested in leveraging the country filter can consult the API documentation for more details.

The future of data access in Canada is being shaped by the Department of Finance Canada's consultation paper on open banking, which seeks to understand the benefits and risks of this approach. Plaid, a leading fintech company with operations in North America, has submitted its comment letter to the consultation, outlining several key principles for developing and sustaining a successful data access framework. According to Plaid, such a system should be rights-based, comprehensive, consent- and permissions-based, government-encouraged and industry-driven, and technology-agnostic. By adopting these principles, Canada can establish a robust data access framework that gives consumers increased choice and control over their financial well-being. The Canadian government is expected to make a decision on open banking this fall, with Plaid looking forward to working with Finance Canada and other stakeholders to chart a course that prioritizes consumer needs.

Plaid's Plushcap is an engineer and developer who has had diverse experiences in various fields. Growing up in Paris, he was drawn to learning about the world through books and science. He studied at École Polytechnique, where he learned valuable skills that served him well in his future career. After completing his studies, he worked as a software engineer at Google, gaining hands-on experience in engineering and product management best practices. However, he wanted a faster-paced environment with more new things to build, which led him to leave Google. During his time off, he traveled extensively, reflecting on his life goals and experiences, and eventually realized that he wanted to join a startup. His search led him to Plaid, where he was drawn by the company's mission to empower companies to improve people's financial lives, its diverse backgrounds, and the friendly atmosphere. Since joining Plaid, he has been maintaining a commitment to introspection through meditation and taking up the violin, which have helped him appreciate life's nuances and make progress in his personal growth.

In February 2019, Baker Shogry and Jesse Dhillon made updates to their platform. They introduced new features for Auth that allow developers to authenticate accounts from any U.S. bank or credit union. Link automatically guides users to the best authentication method based on their selected bank. Additionally, they added support for Canadian institutions such as Desjardins and Vancity, as well as business accounts for Royal Bank of Canada. They also released LinkKit v1.1.15 with new Auth features, including account authentication using micro-deposits.