Since the dawn of APIs, the U.S. has struggled to create a consistent open banking approach. Banks and fintechs have battled with each other on screen scraping, customer data, and open access to third party providers.

Banking technology company Plaid announced a new launch today to solve this struggle and unite banks, fintechs, and consumers. The new tool, Plaid Exchange, offers banks a way to provide open banking connectivity to their clients while keeping their clients’ data safe and giving them control of their data.

Plaid Exchange helps banks establish token-based API connectivity with the 2,600 third party apps in Plaid’s network. This single connection simplifies integration for banks, helping their clients connect with more third party providers securely. Additionally, the API helps banks build a control center that empowers their customers to manage which third parties they share their data with.

To help banks with legacy systems, Plaid is working closely with integration partners to ease the transition. The company’s partners in this effort include Kunai and Core10.

“We believe APIs are the future of open finance, and we want to make it as easy as possible for all financial institutions to incorporate APIs into their broader digital transformation agendas regardless of budget size and resources,” said Plaid Product Lead Niko Karvounis in a blog post.

Plaid Exchange can help banks bring an API solution to market in 12 weeks. The company is already working with financial institutions for Plaid Exchange and expects to partner with even more as banks seek to meet increased customer demand for digital services in the post-COVID-19 era.