The most common - and justified - worry about connecting an account is: how secure are my bank details? The answer depends on two things: the method (open banking) and the specific provider. Both can be judged soberly.
You don't hand over credentials
The key misconception first: with modern open banking you do not type your online-banking credentials into the provider. You confirm the approval directly with your bank. The provider never gets your password, only limited access that you authorised. The method behind it is explained in PSD2 and open banking simply.
Encryption and read-only access
Two technical points are decisive:
- Encryption: data is encrypted in transit and at rest, so it's unreadable to third parties.
- Read-only access: pure monitoring needs no write access - nobody can move money in your name.
BankPilot is built exactly this way: connect the account read-only, process data encrypted, execute nothing.
Security also depends on the provider
Technology alone isn't enough - it matters how responsibly a provider handles it. Look for transparency, a clear privacy policy and the ability to delete data at any time. Whether the processing is overall GDPR-compliant is the second half of the answer.
Your benchmark
An account connection is secure when you hand over no passwords, the data is encrypted, access stays read-only, and you can end it at any time. That's exactly what you should demand of any provider.