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Account aggregation: Managing all your finances in
one spot
 As
brick-to-click banks developed more robust online banking services,
they quickly recognized an additional value-added function that
would please (and thus help retain) their customers: account aggregation.
Account aggregation enables you to use your
private online banking site to access financial accounts held at
other institutions: deposit accounts, securities, credit cards,
rewards programs and individual retirement accounts. Any personal
account information that can be viewed or managed through the Web
can be aggregated into your online bank site.
How it works
Once you've entered your user name and password to log on to your
secure online bank site, you select the accounts you wish to view,
then enter the URL, user name and password for each. Your banking
site automatically links, or aggregates, them into your banking
site.
Transactions initiated through your bank site aggregator
are automatically entered into the appropriate online accounts just
as if you were logged on to them directly. No more flipping between
Web sites, each with its own user name and password requirements,
to manage your finances.
With account aggregation, you can view the status
of all your accounts, including payment history and recent charges,
all from one secure Web site, making bill payment faster and easier
than ever. It's also great if you need to check the status of your
accounts or pay your bills on the road.
Most banks that provide account aggregation do so
free of charge as a relatively inexpensive online enhancement to
attract and keep new banking customers.
-- Updated: March 28, 2003
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