Strands, a CRIF company with extensive expertise in AI, ML and Open finance Customer Engagement for banks and financial institutions, is pleased to announce an influential strategic partnership with Plaid, the data network powering the digital financial ecosystem, in order to expand our Open finance strategy in the US.
Through this partnership with Plaid, Strands continues on its path towards creating an ecosystem that grants financial control to millions of retail and business customers, strategically enhancing a pivotal market like the US one in its scope.
Credit unions trusting Strands’ know-how will benefit from an end-to-end open data solution, gaining access to new information and capabilities to create customer journeys from new data streams enabled by Plaid. With the Strands and Plaid solution, consumers and small businesses can now connect to financial accounts at over 12,000 institutions. The joint solution will enrich consumer-permissioned data into real-time and personalized insights for end customers to create their own budgets, manage their funds, save money and overcome debt.
Thanks to this strategic alliance, Strands’ Personal Financial Management (PFM), Business Financial Management (BFM), Engager and Carbon Footprint Insight capabilities will be enhanced by Plaid to grant access to multisource data in an exceptionally quick process of 11.5 seconds from the module opening to the accounts’ connection. In a simple and intuitive interface, retail customers will gain an overview of their finances, with up to 24 months of historical data permissioned through Plaid’s APIs.
Matched with Strands’ Engager solution, PFM, BFM and Engager will allow financial institutions and Credit Unions in the US to leverage categorized data to properly alert customers on upcoming events, optimize their finances, and advise them on the most appropriate course of action.
Additional capabilities available to Strands and Plaid mutual clients as part of the partnership include Strands’ recently launched Carbon Footprint Insights, to provide customers with an overview of their spending-based carbon emissions and help them take sustainable action through real-time custom insights.
Moreover, Plaid’s APIs will be included in Strands as a Service’s offering, Strands’ flagship new service model dedicated to the US market.
This will allow financial institutions and credit unions to benefit from the most up to date open finance solution with seamless implementation and quick time to market, backed by the highest security standards and dedicated maintenance and support.
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Strands’ Managing Director Edoardo Borsari commented: “Plaid and Strands share a data-driven approach that places the end users at its core. We are delighted to join forces with Plaid for this partnership, which will enable us to further expand our presence in the US. Together, we are committed to advancing API-based data connectivity solutions that enable consumers to have greater transparency, security, and control over their own finances.”
About Strands
Strands has more than 15 years of expertise in AI, ML, Open Finance and Customer Engagement, and has been part of the CRIF group since 2020. Its complete suite of solutions for financial institutions and its track record in Personal and Business Financial Management and data-driven personalized banking experiences, recently enriched by a Carbon Footprint manager offering, established it as a point of reference in the financial wellness landscape.
