As the Internet has grown in popularity, more users are turning to services provided over the Internet to help manage their finances. These services can be provided by financial institutions, such as banks or credit card companies, or by account aggregators that aggregate and present user-specific financial information from one or more financial institutions. Account aggregation involves obtaining financial information related to one or more accounts of a user and presenting the obtained financial information in one place. Each account can be with a different financial institution.
Users typically use a user name and password to log-in to web page(s) maintained by a financial institution or an account aggregator. From the web page(s), the user can access online banking, electronic bill payment, account aggregation, and other online financial services. Online banking provides a user access to his or her financial information and also offers a number of services to a user. Users can, for example, view their statements online, including transaction details and cancelled checks, transfer balances online, and apply for loans online.