Smart Banking

Setting up Rutter's Smart Banking API

Introduction

Accessing banking data is crucial for many fintech applications, from lending decisions to financial management tools. Rutter's Smart Banking API simplifies this process by providing a unified API layer across multiple banking data aggregators. Our proprietary algorithm automatically selects the best aggregator for the bank your customer wishes to connect, ensuring you get the highest data quality and the most reliable connections.

With Rutter's Smart Banking API, you can easily connect to your users' bank accounts across different institutions and access their transaction data, account details, and more—all through a single, consistent API interface.

What's the difference between Banking and Bank Feeds?

Rutter's Smart Banking integration allows you to pull data from banking accounts your customers hold with third parties, like Chase or Capital One. In contrast, Rutter's Bank Feeds integration is designed for fintechs who offer cards or bank accounts to their customers, allowing them to send that data over to their customer's ERP for reconciliation.

Workflow Overview

Rutter's Banking APIs enable you to:

  1. Configure banking data aggregators in your Rutter Dashboard
  2. Connect to users' bank accounts through Rutter Link
  3. Access standardized banking data through a unified API

Getting Started

Configure Banking Aggregators

First, select the aggregators you want to use with Rutter. Smart Banking operates on a "bring your own API keys" model. To configure aggregators:

  • Navigate to Platforms > Banking in your Rutter Dashboard
  • Toggle on your desired banking aggregators (e.g., Plaid, Teller)
  • Add your aggregator credentials

You will need to sign up directly with each banking aggregator and establish pricing arrangements with them separately.

Set Up Webhooks (optional)

Rutter can keep you up-to-date with webhooks when banking data changes. To set up webhooks:

  • Navigate to Webhook Configuration in your Rutter Dashboard
  • Toggle on your desired webhooks

Currently, the following webhooks are available:

  • BANK_ACCOUNT_CREATED
  • BANK_ACCOUNT_UPDATED
  • BANK_TRANSACTION_CREATED
  • BANK_TRANSACTION_UPDATED

Enable Banking in Rutter Link

You'll need to generate a special Rutter Link URL for your customers to begin the flow to connect a bank account.

  • Generate a Rutter Link URL using our dashboard, API, or JS library
  • Append the banking=true parameter to your Rutter Link URL, for example, https://link.rutterapi.com/connection/abcd-1234-qwerz-5678?banking=true
  • Direct your user to the link

When the user visits the Rutter Link URL, they can search for and select their desired bank. Under the hood, Rutter will route the connection to the best aggregator for that bank and redirect the user to that aggregator to complete the login process.

Access Banking Data

Once a user connects their bank account, a new Rutter connection will be created. You can then make API requests to this connection to access:

  • Account details
  • Account balances
  • Transactions

See our API docs for full details on the endpoints available.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Which banking aggregators does Rutter support?

A. Rutter supports major banking aggregators, including Plaid and Teller. Please reach out to your Rutter Account Manager if you have additional aggregator needs.

Q. Can I use multiple aggregators simultaneously?

A. Yes, you can configure multiple aggregators in your Rutter Dashboard. This allows you to optimize for coverage and reliability across different banking institutions and regions.

Q. Can I use just one aggregator?

A. Yes, you can append platform=AGGREGATOR_NAME (e.g. platform=plaid) to your Rutter Link URL to only use that platform. This ensures that all connections are routed through that aggregator.

Q. How does Rutter handle data consistency across different aggregators?

A. Rutter provides a standardized data model that normalizes information from different aggregators into a consistent format. This means you only need to integrate once with our API, regardless of which underlying aggregator is used.

Q. What happens if an aggregator connection fails?

A. Rutter provides detailed error information for connection status changes and allows your users to seamlessly reconnect. You can implement appropriate error handling and user communication based on these statuses.

Q. Is there a way to ensure a specific aggregator is used for a specific bank?

A. No. Rutter's proprietary algorithm, based on a high volume of historical data about aggregator performance, will automatically select the best aggregator for any given bank. However, you do not need to configure more than one aggregator—if you choose to only set up one aggregator in your Rutter Dashboard, that aggregator will be used for all banks.

See our API documentation for detailed information about available endpoints and data models.