The difference between Akahu and other data providers is that, where possible, they access your banking data via the same access mechanisms / APIs as the bank's own mobile apps. So when you're adding a connection via Akahu, it's the same thing as if you're registering a new device for your bank's mobile app.
​
The great thing about this, in addition to speed and reliability, is that though they ask for your username and password, Akahu won't store those credentials whenever possible. Instead, Akahu just passes these over to your bank right away for the first verification step, and then after the subsequent connection process, they receive an access token that they use to fetch ongoing data.
​
However, depending on the provider, this might not be possible—in these cases, Akahu will store your credentials encrypted to keep them safe. In either case, your credentials never touch Aera's network.
​
You can also revoke the token that is given to Akahu at any time.