Re:The Secret API of Banks
by stephengillie on Wednesday August 08, 2018 @09:12PM
(#17721005)
Why don't banks sell API access at a rate s/similar/lower than Google Maps API access? This is starting to feel like music and video piracy all over again.
[ Parent
| on HN ]
Re:The Secret API of Banks
by toomuchtodo on Wednesday August 08, 2018 @09:53PM
(#17721160)
Because the value is in not being commodified. Not giving API access is worth more than charging for it.
If all of your credit lines, checking, savings, and investment accounts were an API call away, the institutions providing those no longer build relationships that can be profitable; they're simply utilities you could swap out interchangeably. As such, they're not a fan of this idea.
> they're simply utilities you could swap out interchangeably. As such, they're not a fan of this idea.
It's sad, because that's exactly what they should be. :/.
In crime we call it “organised” crime. I’m banking it’s just “doing business”. Maybe we should make this kind of invention of value out of thin air illegal?
Because they know they can't compete on a technical level with Amazons and Google's even dumping a billion dollars into tech growth, and disintermediation is a fast road to becoming a utility.