[wayzel]

"In the US, where there is no such requirement - the only way to access the bank account is to emulate a browser."

Not entirely correct. In the US, JPMorganChase, Intuit, and others have adopted the OFX standard (consortium-based, which provides #2) as a more secure, controlled API alternative to browser emulation.

[lapusta]

You are right, although Plaid has quite a critical view on OFX https://plaid.com/documents/Plaid-Financial-Data-Access-Meth...

[huac]

like any other entrenched monopolist, Plaid shouldn't want OFX to make it easier for new entrants to enter. Building something to interact with OFX is easier than building a scraper.