Schwaner & Co. provides partnership development for data aggregators and networks, credit bureaus and alternative data providers, and the verification and cash flow companies built on permissioned data, from target selection and executive outreach through negotiation and launch coordination. We open the bank and institution relationships that supply your data, and the lender, insurer, fintech and platform relationships that put it to work.
Every engagement is run by a senior partnerships executive, supported by a team that handles research, materials and follow-up.
Open banking partnerships on both sides of the data
A financial data business is a two-sided network, and both sides are partnerships. On one side are the banks, credit unions, payroll providers and other institutions whose data flows through you. On the other are the lenders, insurers, wealth platforms, payment companies and fintechs that pay for it. Growth stalls when either side is thin, and most data companies have a sales team for one side and nobody for the other.
Our open banking partnership work covers both. On the supply side, we open and negotiate data access relationships with institutions, and we do it the way those institutions now expect, as a commercial agreement with terms, not a connection request. On the demand side, we identify the lenders, platforms and enterprises where your data changes a decision, build the case for the executives who own that decision and lead the commercial discussion through to launch.
For an aggregator or data network, that usually means bank and credit union coverage agreements on one side and decisioning, origination and payments platforms on the other. For a bureau or alternative data provider, it means the payroll, rent, telecom and utility sources that make your data different, and the lenders and insurers who would underwrite with it. For a verification or cash flow company, it is the loan origination systems, BaaS platforms and lenders where a single integration puts you in front of hundreds of customers. We build the approach around your product, your coverage gaps and the revenue number you have to hit.
What is happening in open banking right now
Three things are reshaping this market in 2026, and together they turn data access from a technical question into a partnership question.
The rule is being rewritten, and fees are the fight
The CFPB finalized its Section 1033 personal financial data rights rule in October 2024, a federal court enjoined it, and in August 2025 the Bureau reopened the rulemaking. By August 2026 a proposed "Personal Financial Data Rights Reconsideration" was at the White House for review, with reporting that the rewrite may replace the original rule's blanket ban on data access fees with a model where banks can charge after a set number of free requests. The architecture of permissioned, API-based access looks likely to survive. The economics are being renegotiated in public. [2, 3]
The largest bank already made access a paid relationship
In November 2025, JPMorgan Chase reached agreements with Plaid and other aggregators under which the bank is compensated for data access, after extended negotiations in which the bank lowered its initial fee demands and the aggregators won concessions on how requests are handled. Whatever the final rule says, the precedent is set. For a data company, every bank relationship is now a negotiated agreement with real dollars attached, and the people who negotiate those agreements well will have better coverage at lower cost than the people who do not. [4]
The standard won, and screen scraping is on the clock
The Financial Data Exchange reported 94 million consumer accounts on the FDX API in its fall 2024 survey, up 18 million in six months, and in January 2025 the CFPB recognized FDX as the first standard-setting body under the rule. API-based access is becoming the only acceptable way to move permissioned data, and an API connection to a bank is a formal relationship with contracts, security review and commercial terms on both sides. The connections that used to happen quietly in the background now happen in a conference room. [5, 6]
Put those together and the shape of the opportunity is clear. Supply-side access is consolidating into negotiated agreements. Demand-side use is spreading into cash flow underwriting, pay by bank and verification faster than most data companies can sell. More growth runs through partnerships now, on both sides, and the data companies that treat both sides as a partnerships function will hold the coverage and the distribution when the rule finally lands.
Where financial data companies can find supply and distribution
Data companies grow in different ways. These are examples of partner categories we would evaluate based on your product, coverage and operating capabilities.
| Financial data segment | Supply-side partners | Demand-side and channel partners | What we would evaluate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Data aggregators and networks | Banks and credit unions, core providers, digital banking platforms, brokerages and wealth custodians, payroll and HR platforms | Lenders and loan origination systems, decisioning platforms, BaaS providers, payment processors, personal finance and wealth apps | Coverage gaps by institution type, the economics of each access agreement and the platforms that put you in front of many customers at once |
| Credit bureaus and alternative data providers | Rent and property management platforms, utilities and telecom, payroll providers, BNPL and subscription businesses, international bureaus | Consumer and small business lenders, insurers, landlords and screening companies, credit card issuers, decisioning and underwriting platforms | Which sources make your data different, the lender segments where it moves approval rates and the compliance path for each use |
| Verification and cash flow data companies | Aggregators and data networks, payroll and HR systems, banks offering direct connections | Mortgage, auto and personal lenders, loan origination systems, property management and tenant screening, BaaS and embedded lending platforms, gig and marketplace platforms | Where one integration reaches hundreds of lenders and the pricing that works when the platform takes a share |
| Pay by bank and account-to-account enablers | Banks and payment networks, aggregators and data networks | Payment processors and gateways, billers and subscription businesses, marketplaces, merchant software, lenders collecting repayments | Merchant and biller incentive to shift volume from cards, processor economics and the consumer adoption path |
Partnership models for financial data growth
Data supply partnerships with banks and institutions
Your coverage is your product. The institutions whose accounts flow through you decide what you can offer, and since the largest bank started charging for access, every one of those relationships is a commercial negotiation with terms, service levels and a price. Smaller banks and credit unions watch what the large ones do and ask for the same.
We open conversations with the executives who own data strategy at banks, credit unions, cores and digital banking platforms, build the case for why a direct agreement with you is better for their customers and their cost base, and negotiate access terms, request handling, security review and economics. Your engineering and compliance teams own the technical connection and the data handling obligations. We keep the agreement moving and we keep the coverage map filling in.
Embedded distribution through decisioning and origination platforms
A lender rarely buys data by itself. It buys a loan origination system, a decisioning engine, a BaaS platform or a core, and the data comes through whatever those platforms have integrated. One integration with the right platform puts your data in front of every lender on it.
We identify the origination, decisioning and infrastructure platforms whose customers fit your data, build the case for the product and partnership leaders who decide what gets integrated, and negotiate placement, revenue share, lead registration and co-marketing. Your engineering team handles the integration. We handle the relationship and the commercial terms, and we make sure the platform's own sales team has a reason to lead with you.
Lender, insurer and enterprise partnerships
Some customers are large enough to be partners. A national lender, a top insurer or a major fintech can commit volume, co-develop a use case and open its own partners to you. Those relationships do not start with a sales sequence. They start with the right executive and a specific explanation of what your data does to their approval rate, their loss rate or their cost per funded loan.
We map the enterprises where your data changes a decision, open conversations at the level where that decision is owned and lead the commercial discussion through pilot, agreement and launch. Cash flow underwriting, income verification and alternative credit data are the use cases moving fastest in lending; underwriting and pay by bank are moving in insurance. We build the case in the prospect's own numbers.
Pay by bank and payments partnerships
Account-to-account payments turn permissioned data into a payment rail, and the companies that control the checkout, the bill and the repayment decide whether that rail gets used. Processors, gateways, billers, subscription businesses and lenders collecting repayments are the partners who put pay by bank in front of consumers.
We identify the processors and merchant platforms where account-to-account payments solve a real cost or conversion problem, build the case in their margin, and negotiate placement, pricing and launch. Your product team owns the payment experience and risk controls. If payments is your main business rather than one use of your data, our payments partnerships page covers that work in full.
Data licensing and reseller partnerships
Bureaus, alternative data providers and analytics companies grow by licensing data to the platforms and resellers that already serve the end customer, screening companies, property management software, insurance rating platforms, fraud and identity providers, and other data companies that want your attributes inside their products.
We identify licensees whose customers fit your data, work through permitted use, compliance requirements, pricing and exclusivity, and keep the commercial conversation moving while your legal and compliance teams govern the terms. These agreements are durable once signed, so we treat them as a channel to build rather than a one-time contract.
What makes a data partnership worth pursuing
A partner's size is only a starting point. On the supply side we ask what coverage an institution adds and what the agreement will cost. On the demand side we ask how many of a partner's customers would use your data, at what price and after whose share.
- Coverage or reach. Does the institution close a real gap in your coverage, or does the platform actually reach the lenders and businesses you want?
- Decision impact. Does your data change a decision the partner's customers care about, approval, pricing, fraud, conversion, and can you show it in their numbers?
- Economics. What does the access agreement cost, or what revenue remains after the platform's share, and how does that compare with your current cost of coverage or cost of sale?
- Permitted use and compliance. What consumer permission, data handling, fair lending or privacy requirements apply, and can both sides clear them in a reasonable time?
- Integration path. What does the connection require from both engineering teams, and who owns it after launch?
- Partner commitment. Who owns the relationship on each side, and will the partner's own teams actually promote the integration or honor the agreement?
For example, a national platform with thousands of lenders may have limited near-term value if your data is one of twenty options in its marketplace and nobody on its sales team leads with it. A regional origination system with four hundred community lenders and no cash flow data integration could deserve priority, because you would be the default.
Our approach to partner selection is explained further in how we identify strategic partners.
How we develop your partnership pipeline
Identify the right targets
We agree on the product, the side of the network to prioritize, the revenue or coverage objective and the partner categories to pursue. Research then narrows the opportunity to specific companies, relevant decision-makers and a clear partnership rationale. You can see why each target belongs on the list and which assumptions still need to be tested.
Engage the decision-makers
We open executive conversations with an explanation of why the partnership could matter to that company and what revenue, cost or customer benefit it could produce. Existing relationships help where there is relevant overlap; we also develop new conversations through targeted outreach. Follow-up addresses the partner's questions and keeps the next decision clear.
Qualify the opportunity
Discovery tests coverage or reach, decision impact, economics, permitted use and the partner's willingness to act. We establish who needs to be involved and what each side needs to evaluate. Every active opportunity has a next step, an owner on each side and a target date for the next decision.
Scope and negotiate the agreement
We develop the commercial proposal and lead negotiations around the agreed partnership model. Topics may include access fees or revenue sharing, request handling and service levels, permitted use, data handling and security obligations, exclusivity, marketing commitments and responsibilities for launch and support. We coordinate with your legal, compliance, security and product leads so decisions and outstanding requirements stay visible.
Coordinate launch and handover
Once an agreement is signed, we coordinate the commercial work needed to prepare the partnership for launch. That includes agreed responsibilities, supporting materials, launch milestones and the handover of contacts and deal documents. Your teams retain responsibility for technical integration, security review and approvals. Ongoing partner management stays with your team unless separately scoped.
Weekly pipeline reviews distinguish outreach, qualified opportunities, proposals, signed agreements and launched partners. Once a partner is live, reporting should separately show connected institutions or integrated platforms, active end customers, data volume and revenue.
See our business development consulting services for the broader deliverables and reporting.
Senior partnership leadership and execution
Every engagement is run by a senior partnerships executive who leads partner strategy, executive conversations and commercial negotiations. That ownership continues through agreement and launch coordination. Kevin Schwaner is the person on every call.
We have 200+ enterprise relationships across insurance, banking, lending, automotive and consumer platforms, built over nearly a decade, and have driven over $200M in partnership revenue for the companies our team members have worked for. For a data company that needs banks on one side and lenders and insurers on the other, that is the right address book. Two experiences say more about how we work than any process diagram.
The first was a partnership with a top-five property and casualty carrier. There was no introduction and no existing relationship. Our team reached 173 people across that organization before the right conversation started, and that conversation became a signed partnership. Large institutions are not closed. They are layered, and the work is finding the person whose problem you solve.
The second was a national insurer that took a few hundred messages across many months to get over the line. Nobody quit, nobody got clever, and nobody made it awkward. The deal closed because the case was right and the follow-up never stopped. Bank data access agreements and enterprise data deals are won the same way, by a senior person who stays on it long after a sales sequence would have given up.
A supporting team handles research, materials, scheduling and follow-up. Your team receives regular pipeline updates with clear next steps, outstanding decisions and an owner for each opportunity. This engagement fits a data company with a working product, a defined coverage or revenue target and internal capacity to integrate and support partners. We can lead one side of the network, bank access agreements for example, alongside your sales and partnerships team. If you need senior ownership across a broader mandate, our fractional head of partnerships service explains that structure.
Open banking partnership FAQs
What is consumer permissioned data?
Consumer permissioned data is financial information a consumer authorizes one company to share with another, such as letting a lender see transaction history from a bank account to verify income or assess cash flow. The consumer gives permission, the data holder (usually a bank) supplies the data, and an aggregator or data network typically moves it through an API. In the United States, the CFPB's Section 1033 rule governs this sharing and is being revised in 2026.
What is cash flow underwriting?
Cash flow underwriting is the use of permissioned bank account data, income, spending, balances and payment patterns, to assess a borrower's ability to repay, alongside or instead of a traditional credit score. Lenders use it to approve applicants with thin credit files, price risk more accurately and reduce fraud. For a data company, it is one of the fastest-growing uses of permissioned data and the clearest case for a lender partnership.
Can you help us negotiate data access agreements with banks?
Yes. We identify the institutions that close your coverage gaps, open conversations with the executives who own data strategy and negotiate access terms, request handling, security review and economics. Your engineering, security and compliance teams own the technical connection and the data obligations. We keep the agreement moving and the coverage map filling in.
Can you get our data integrated into loan origination and decisioning platforms?
Yes. We identify the origination, decisioning and infrastructure platforms whose lenders fit your data, build the case for the product and partnership leaders who decide what gets integrated and negotiate placement, revenue share and co-marketing. Your engineering team handles the integration. We handle the relationship and make sure the platform's sales team has a reason to lead with you.
Do you work with lenders and insurers directly?
Yes, as enterprise partners. We map the lenders, insurers and fintechs where your data changes a decision, open conversations at the executive level and lead the commercial discussion through pilot, agreement and launch. Ordinary transactional sales stay with your sales team. We agree on account ownership at the start so the two motions reinforce each other.
Can you work alongside our internal partnerships team?
Yes. We can own one side of the network or one partner category while your team manages the rest. We agree on account ownership, decision authority and reporting at the start so both teams know who leads each relationship and when product, security or compliance specialists should participate.
How long does it take to launch a data partnership?
Timing depends on the model, the partner's priorities, integration work and security and compliance review. Licensing and reseller agreements move faster than bank access agreements or platform integrations. We establish milestones after discovery and track progress against them. A signed agreement, a live connection or integration and an active end customer are separate milestones; the timeline should make each one clear.
How are open banking partnership engagements priced?
Schwaner & Co. works on a monthly retainer plus a performance fee on closed partnerships. The scope reflects the products, partner categories and work involved. We agree on responsibilities, commercial terms and how a closed partnership is defined before the engagement begins.
Discuss your data partnership goals
Tell us about your data, which side of the network needs the most help and the coverage or revenue target partnerships need to support. We will prepare an initial map of eight to ten potential partners for one side and use a 20-minute conversation to discuss where there may be a fit.