You mean the step from sandbox to production application, or you're not even getting access to the sandbox itself? I managed to get sandbox access with ease via two separate banks (both Spanish though), with no problems, think it took them one (working) day or something to review my "application". I never tried to get anything into the production environments though, but makes sense they'd be a bit tighter on that tbh.
Access to that kind of data requires regulation, a lot of it and that's why Third Party Providers exist. There are a lot of them in Europe and they're not expensive.
I actually didn't expect to find anything about bunq around here but I have to say they're the worst bank I've worked with. When we started working with them, their API were broken and the devs had no idea why. It seems to have improved recently but it's definitely not a bank to praise for their API.
And now we have a paypal-like shopping experience via SEPA Instant Payments, all our PayPal hating customers are happy ;)
I know, that's my point. It's a stupid decision.
> Access to that kind of data requires regulation
It's my data. I want to access it how I see fit.
> There are a lot of them in Europe and they're not expensive.
I already have a bank and I already pay them. I don't want to pay anyone else to be able to use my bank account in a way that suits me. Sadly, there aren't many good options.
Someone mentioned Wise, and they do seem pretty interesting. But it makes no sense why common high strees banks refuse to cater to power users, or even to users who aren't using mainstream devices.
They often act as marketing and can find and report security vulnerabilities rather than the criminal element doing so first.
It ain't your data, it's the bank's data about you. Banks are shitty about access, APIs because they are perpetually in CYA mode from KYC/AML rules from the US (also on most foreign banks) and GDPR and cousins in Europe.
I was actually surprised how many bank apps will work under GrapheneOS even if only partially.
Seriously, count your blessings man. In America we only get Plaid, which only works right or reliably for big banks (which are also the worst ones), and it isn’t an API for humans, just a paid SaaS product that a company who wants to offer integration with banks has to pay (i assume a lot) for.
Neither are technically a bank, but provide banking services. Mercury is more focused on big earners, and Crew is focused more on budgeting. Both have pretty extensive API surfaces.
(Disclaimer: Affiliate for Crew)
Vágj bele!!
Balances are held in Wise at your own risk.
Wise is really just a glorified interface on the account. And no, it's not a shared account. Those don't really exist in Japan.
"Open banking" is kind of a thing with PSD2/PSD3, but in name only. In reality, it's impossible to build anything useful. Interacting with any of the "open" APIs requires approval from a national bank (or similar institution), which means there are many hoops to jump through.
There is only one bank I know of that offers an API for end users ("bunq" IIRC). Every other god damned bank insists on being user hostile.