Banks’ fraught relationship with data aggregators got a little more tense this week because of a patent infringement lawsuit brought by TD Bank against aggregator Plaid. TD claims that Plaid, which acts as an intermediary enabling the transfer of account information between banks and external apps, created a user interface copying the TD trademark, logo and color scheme.

Why should we care?
TD Bank alleges that Plaid gave users the impression they were entering their information on TD’s platform, while the aggregator mined account information, stored it and could potentially sell it to third parties. TD is not alone among banks concerned with how information flows through Plaid; PNC previously echoed similar concerns. Meanwhile, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase entered into agreements with Plaid to directly connect to their bank platforms to enable the secure transfer of data. TD’s dispute with Plaid centers around the practice of credential sharing, which banks say isn’t secure; aggregators, by contrast, say security is important, but emphasize that the flow of information to third-party apps should not be restricted when the customer gives consent.