GoCardless Bank Account Data vs Salt Edge Data Aggregation

GoCardless Bank Account Data is an API for businesses that need account details and transaction data from connected bank accounts. It connects through bank PSD2 APIs and can return account holder names, account identifiers, IBANs, transaction dates, counterparties, descriptions and amounts, plus current and available balances. It can retrieve up to 24 months of transaction history, with continuous access lasting up to 90 days. Data refreshes on demand, and responses use JSON. To connect, an end user chooses a supported financial institution, accepts a GoCardless-hosted consent screen and authenticates through the institution. API requests use an authorization token created with a Bank Account Data portal user secret. GoCardless provides a quickstart guide and instructions for importing the API schema into Postman. Availability is limited to EEA countries subject to PSD2 where GoCardless operates as an authorized AISP. Banks may restrict requests to as few as four calls per account per day. Account verification is available only to paying customers; new accounts are unverified by default. The service is paid, with pricing on request, and is available via API and web.

Salt Edge Data Aggregation gives businesses access to bank information from more than 5,000 institutions worldwide through one API. It brings account details, balances, transactions, account-holder information, categories, and merchant information together in a unified format. Coverage includes Europe, the UK, and financial institutions in over 50 countries. The service supports personal and business debit, credit, investment, savings, loan, and mortgage accounts, with investment data and transaction enrichment available. Connections can use the Salt Edge Connect widget, a custom interface, Direct API, OAuth, web login, or a bank API. The widget can carry a customer’s branding. Use cases listed by Salt Edge include financial management, retail banking, lending, accounting and ERP, KYC and AML, and treasury management. Businesses without their own PSD2 licence can use the Partner Program for aggregated data from over 2,500 EU banks. Production pricing is custom and billed per consented end-user; a 90-day trial is listed, and the sandbox/developer trial is free, billed monthly.