What is the Financial-grade API (FAPI) WG?
Overview
In many cases, Fintech services such as aggregation services use screen scraping and stores user passwords. This model is both brittle and insecure. To cope with the brittleness, it should utilize an API model with structured data and to cope with insecurity, it should utilize a token model such as OAuth [RFC6749, RFC6750].
This working group aims to rectify the situation by developing a REST/JSON model protected by OAuth. Specifically, the FAPI WG aims to provide JSON data schemas, security and privacy recommendations and protocols to:
- enable applications to utilize the data stored in the financial account,
- enable applications to interact with the financial account, and
- enable users to control security and privacy settings.
Both commercial and investment banking account as well as insurance, and credit card accounts are to be considered.
Working Group Chairs
- Nat Sakimura (NAT Consulting), Anoop Saxena (Intuit), Anthony Nadalin, Dave Tonge (Moneyhub)
The chairs can be reached at <openid-specs-fapi-owner@lists.openid.net>.
List of Specifications and Status
Final Specifications
- Financial-grade API Security Profile (FAPI) 1.0 – Part 1: Baseline – A secured OAuth profile that aims to provide specific implementation guidelines for security and interoperability.
- Financial-grade API Security Profile (FAPI) 1.0 – Part 2: Advanced – A highly secured OAuth profile that aims to provide specific implementation guidelines for security and interoperability.
Implementer’s Drafts
- Financial-grade API: JWT Secured Authorization Response Mode 2.0 (JARM) – This specification was created to bring some of the security features defined as part of OpenID Connect to OAuth 2.0
- Financial-grade API: Client Initiated Backchannel Authentication (CIBA) Profile – FAPI CIBA is a profile of the OpenID Connect’s CIBA specification that supports the decoupled flow
- FAPI 2.0 Baseline and Attacker Model – FAPI 2.0 has a broader scope than FAPI 1.0 as it aims for complete interoperability at the interface between client and authorization server as well as interoperable security mechanisms at the interface between client and resource server
- Grant Management for OAuth 2.0 – This profile specifies a standards based approach to managing “grants” that represent the consent a data subject has given. It was born out of experience with the roll out of PSD2 and requirements in Australia
Active Drafts
- FAPI 2.0: Advanced – The advanced profile is an extension of the baseline profile and provides non-repudiation for all exchanges including responses from resource servers
- FAPI 1.0 — Lodging Intent ===> Now OAuth PAR + OAuth RAR
The most current FAPI Working Group updates can be found on the Workshops page: https://openid.net/workshops/
Whitepapers
“Open Banking, Open Data, and the Financial Grade API,” March 2022
A primer for markets looking at enabling Open Banking and Open Data, covering the origins of “user-consent” based data sharing, global adoption, key standards, implementation considerations, and application across industry verticals.
“Open Banking and Open Data Go Global,” June 2022, working draft
A review of the opportunity for domestic Open Banking and Open Data implementations to go global, and the use cases and market participants likely to drive this evolution. Comments on the working draft are welcome, and should be directed to the FAPI WG.
Participation
The easiest way to participate is to join the mailing list at http://lists.openid.net/mailman/listinfo/openid-specs-fapi.
Please note that while anyone can join the mailing list as a read-only recipient, posting to the mailing list or actively contributing to the specification itself requires the submission of an IPR Agreement. More information is available at http://openid.net/intellectual-property. Make sure to specify the working group as FAPI WG.
Meeting Venue and Schedule 
- Regular Meetings
- Pacific zone call: Bi-weekly Thursday Call @ 11pm UTC
- Atlantic zone call: Weekly Wednesday Call @ 2pm UTC
- See the calendar below for the details.
- Location: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/321819862
- GoToMeeting software is available on Mac, PC, iPhone, and Android Phone.
- Using VoIP option of GoToMeeting is preferred. If you have to absolutely use a plain old telephone for some reason, here is the phone number:
United States: +1 (224) 501-3316 United Kingdom: +44 (0) 20 3713 5011 - Meeting minutes are available at: https://bitbucket.org/openid/fapi/wiki/browse/