What to Know If You’re Rethinking Your Aggregation Strategy

If you’ve been thinking about switching your aggregator, you’re not alone. The problems arising from the wrong aggregator can be costly both for your bottom line and for the time required from your users and developers. But the process of making the switch can feel daunting. Even organizations know there is a better aggregator solution, there’s hesitancy to make the change and many feel  begrudgingly stuck with their old aggregators.

David Nohe, CEO of FinGoal, says there are a few key reasons why companies were not, and maybe still aren’t, willing to switch to a new data provider. “On an emotional level, there's always a fear of the unknown, it's the devil I know, versus the devil I don't. And then there's also just a really deep technical problem where every aggregator behaves differently, their data looks different. Overall, the switching costs are just too high.”

FinGoal’s VP of Product, Ariam Sium, summed up the three main reasons companies haven’t switched in her FinovateSpring demo:

“First, it takes months and a lot of engineering time that most companies just don’t have.

Secondly, there are product concerns about downward dependencies relying on the old aggregator data. And lastly, there’s concern about the impact to the user experience.”

That was the state of switching aggregators before the Aggregator Switch Kit. FinGoal’s Switch Kit is a translation layer API that allows any engineering team to fully replace the current data aggregator in less than one sprint. 

Switching data providers is now easier than ever. The costs are drastically lower, especially in terms of developer time. And, the Switch Kit removes the need to completely refactor your  interface. The Switch Kit helps you deliver better data without disrupting your user experience.

David says “You can switch in minutes, not months. You can get whatever you're looking for, whether it's a second aggregator or a clean switch, and you can get that value a hell of a lot faster. And without spending a ton of engineering dollars and hours by using the switch kit. Instead, just get the benefits of the new aggregator right away.” 

And, most importantly, the Switch Kit removes any risk of link breakages for end users. With previous aggregator transitions, the concern that current users would have to relink all their accounts, leading to possible user churn.  Sium shared, “ There is no need to force existing users to sever their old working connections just to use a new aggregator for new connections. Existing users won’t know anything has changed and there will be no impact to the user experience.This is because, as old connections break, the users will re-connect through your new aggregator. As new users join, they will connect through the new aggregator.”

Developers need the best data from the right aggregator so they can continue innovating and building solutions within the fintech space. The benefits of switching aggregators have always been there – better cost structures, access to the best quality data, and migrating to a provider that aligns with your value proposition. But, until now the costs and risk associated with switching made it so nobody wanted to take the leap. Now, with FinGoal’s Aggregator Switch Kit, changing to an aggregator that best fits your needs is as accessible as you always dreamed.