What is an AISP?
Written by Arnon Shimoni
✓ Expert
Last updated on:
An AISP (Account Information Service Provider) is a regulated third-party company authorized to access a customer's bank account data, with their consent, in read-only mode. AISPs can view transaction histories, balances, and account details across multiple banks, but they cannot move money or initiate payments.
AISPs were formalized under PSD2 (the EU's Second Payment Services Directive), which required banks to open access to customer account data through secure APIs. The UK adopted these rules through the Payment Services Regulations 2017, and similar frameworks are emerging in Australia (Consumer Data Right), Brazil, and other markets.
How AISPs work
Step | What happens |
|---|---|
1. Customer consent | The customer authorizes the AISP to access their account data, typically through Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) |
2. API connection | The AISP connects to the bank's open banking API to retrieve account information |
3. Data aggregation | The AISP pulls balances, transactions, and account details, often from multiple banks into one view |
4. Service delivery | The aggregated data powers the AISP's product: budgeting tools, credit scoring, accounting software, or financial dashboards |
The key constraint: AISPs have read-only access. They can look at data but cannot initiate transactions. For payment initiation, you need a PISP (Payment Initiation Service Provider). Some companies hold both licenses.
AISP vs. PISP
AISP | PISP | |
|---|---|---|
Full name | Account Information Service Provider | Payment Initiation Service Provider |
What it does | Retrieves and aggregates account data | Initiates payments from a customer's bank account |
Access type | Read-only | Read and execute |
Can move money? | No | Yes |
Common use cases | Budgeting apps, credit scoring, accounting tools, financial dashboards | E-commerce payments, bill payments, money transfers |
Examples | Tink, TrueLayer, Plaid (in applicable markets) | GoCardless, Noda, Token.io |
Regulatory basis | PSD2 (EU), PSR 2017 (UK) | PSD2 (EU), PSR 2017 (UK) |
Many open banking providers hold both AISP and PISP licenses, offering data aggregation and payment initiation through a single API.
Common AISP use cases
Use case | How AISPs enable it |
|---|---|
Personal finance management | Aggregate accounts from multiple banks into one dashboard for budgeting and spending analysis |
Credit and affordability checks | Access real-time transaction data for faster, more accurate lending decisions (replacing manual bank statement reviews) |
Accounting and bookkeeping | Automatically pull transaction data into accounting software, reducing manual data entry |
Identity and income verification | Verify account ownership and income patterns for KYC and onboarding |
Financial health scoring | Analyze spending patterns to assess financial health for insurance, lending, or investment products |
Why AISPs matter for billing and monetization
For companies in the payments and financial infrastructure space, AISPs are part of the broader open banking ecosystem that's reshaping how businesses access financial data, verify customers, and streamline onboarding.
Solvimon customers like Yapily, TrueLayer, and Montonio operate within this ecosystem, connecting businesses to financial institutions across Europe. Their billing complexity, with per-API-call metering, volume-based tiers, and bespoke enterprise contracts, is a direct result of how open banking products are consumed and monetized.
Building or scaling an open banking product with complex usage-based pricing? Talk to one of our billing experts.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an AISP?
An Account Information Service Provider is a regulated entity authorised under PSD2 to access a customer's bank account data in read-only mode, with the customer's explicit consent. It can see balances and transactions but cannot move money.
What is the difference between an AISP and a PISP?
An AISP reads account data. A Payment Initiation Service Provider initiates payments from the account. Many open banking providers hold both permissions, but they are separate regulatory authorisations with different obligations.
What do companies use AISPs for?
Affordability and credit assessment, account verification before setting up a direct debit, cash flow analysis for lending, accounting reconciliation, and identity or ownership verification.
Do AISPs matter for billing?
Indirectly but usefully. Verifying that a bank account exists and belongs to the customer before setting up a mandate reduces failed collections, and balance visibility can inform retry timing for large invoices.
Is AISP access ongoing or one-time?
Consent is time-bound under PSD2 and must be renewed, historically every ninety days though this has been relaxed in some implementations. Any product depending on continuous access has to handle re-consent as a normal flow.
Does open banking replace card payments?
Not generally, but it competes for specific use cases. Bank-initiated payments avoid card fees and chargebacks, which is attractive for large invoices, while cards remain better for low-friction consumer checkout.
Related
Embedded finance. Financial services inside non-financial products.
Payment gateway. The card-based alternative path.
ACH. Bank-based collection in the US.
Recurring payments. Where account verification reduces failures.
Dunning. Using account data to time retries.
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