Wells Fargo Gateway processed more than 1.5 billion digital interactions in 2019 between the bank’s customers and third–party apps.  

The Gateway, established in 2016, allows customers to securely connect to third-party apps through aggregators like Plaid, among other use cases. It is Wells’ open API channel that allows commercial and corporate customers to integrate the bank’s products, services and information into other digital environments.  

API interactions are requested responses between Wells Fargo customers and software connecting with their data to process various actions, such as inputing data into accounting software. 

The API channel also connects Wells Fargo’s business customers, and features use cases that support faster payments and data services. 

“The volume of API calls last year demonstrates the growing importance customers place on having options to use our products and services in their digital context,” said Imran Haider, head of open APIs for Wells Fargo. “The use of APIs represents the future of distribution, simplifying banking for our customers as they seek digital experiences that help their day-to-day financial lives.” 

The implementation and success of the Wells Fargo Gateway is part of the bank’s strategy to phase out screen scraping for customers connecting their accounts to third–party apps. Since 2016, it entered into 15 data–sharing agreements with different third-party apps and aggregators, including Intuit and Plaid, but it has not completely done away with screen scraping.  

See also: With Plaid, Wells Fargo gives customers a new lever to control their data 

“It takes time to implement the replacement of screen scraping with API-based data sharing, we’re on a journey to do that,” said Ben Soccorsy, head of digital payments at Wells Fargo Virtual Channels.

Wells Fargo attributes some of their increased API usage to Control Tower, a digital control center that allows customers to manage their digital financial footprints. This includes the ability to turn their credit and debit cards on and off; monitor recurring payments, such as subscriptions; and control data sharing. Since customers can now see which apps they have granted access to their information, they are motivated to take control of who sees it and how it is used. 

Since the rollout of Control Tower, its most used feature has been the one for recurring card payments. Agreements with aggregators like Plaid boost Control Tower’s data–sharing oversight function, Soccorsy told Bank Innovation. 

“The more partners and the more agreements that we make around moving to the data exchange API, the more robust the data–sharing list is,” he said.  

Wells Fargo sees the success of its Gateway as proof the bank is addressing its customers’ data–security concerns and that its efforts to give them more control have been worth the transition.  

“Reaching this milestone helps [Wells Fargo] validate APIs as a method for distributing bank products,” Haider said. “It helps us create value for customers.”  

Banking Automation Summit, which takes place from June 1-2 in Miami, is a unique opportunity to share insights, trends, strategies and best practices on back-office automation in financial services with the industry’s leading practitioners.