Bank data & compliance
Access Token: Definition & Example
What Is an Access Token?
An access token is a credential an app receives after a user grants permission, letting it call an API on the user’s behalf, such as reading bank data, without ever handling the user’s password.
What does access token mean?
Access tokens come from authorization frameworks like OAuth. The user logs in with the provider, such as a bank or a data aggregator, and approves access. The provider then issues the app a token that represents that specific permission.
Tokens can be limited in scope (for example, transactions only), set to expire, and revoked by the user or the provider at any time. That makes them much safer than sharing a password, which grants full access until it is changed.
Because a token is a key to data, it must be stored securely. Services that only need data once can delete the token right after use, so no ongoing access exists.
Access token example
When an applicant connects her bank, the data provider returns an access token to the income analysis service. The service uses it once to fetch 12 months of transactions, then deletes the token, so no further data can be pulled from her account.
Related terms
- Read-Only Bank ConnectionA read-only bank connection lets an app view account data, such as balances and transactions, without being able to move money, make payments, or change anything in the account.
- Open BankingOpen banking is the practice of letting consumers securely share their bank account data, such as balances and transactions, with third-party apps and services they choose, usually through APIs.
- Consumer-Permissioned DataConsumer-permissioned data is financial information a consumer actively authorizes a third party to access, such as bank transactions shared through an open banking connection.
- Account AggregationAccount aggregation is collecting data from a person’s accounts at multiple financial institutions into one place, with their permission, so balances and transactions can be viewed or analyzed together.
