> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.flinks.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Outbound (Open Banking)

> Learn about Flinks Outbound, the Open Banking solution for secure, consent-based financial data sharing.

Flinks Outbound is an Open Banking solution that enables secure, consent-based financial data sharing between financial institutions and third-party applications. It uses industry standards like **Financial Data Exchange (FDX)** to ensure consistent, high-quality data delivery.

## What is Open Banking?

Open Banking is a framework that allows consumers to securely share their financial data with third-party service providers. Instead of screen-scraping or credential-based access, Open Banking uses standardized APIs and explicit user consent to share data directly from the financial institution.

## How Flinks Outbound works

At a high level, the Outbound flow works as follows:

1. **Your application** initiates an authorization request with a Data Provider (financial institution)
2. **The user** is redirected to their financial institution's consent page
3. **The user** reviews and approves the data-sharing request
4. **The financial institution** issues an authorization code
5. **Your application** exchanges the code for an access token
6. **Your application** uses the access token to retrieve financial data through FDX-compliant endpoints

This is an **OAuth-based consent flow** — the user's credentials are never shared with your application. They authenticate directly with their financial institution.

## Key concepts

### Roles

| Role               | Description                                                                                                        |
| :----------------- | :----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Data Provider**  | A financial institution (bank, credit union) that holds the customer's financial data and provides it through APIs |
| **Data Recipient** | An organization that receives financial data from Data Providers to deliver services to the customer               |
| **Partner**        | A Data Recipient that is fully integrated into the Flinks Outbound ecosystem                                       |

### FDX-compliant output

Flinks Outbound returns data in **FDX (Financial Data Exchange)** format, an industry-standard JSON structure for financial data. This includes:

* Account details (type, balance, account number)
* Transaction history
* Customer information (name, contact details)
* Payment network information

Using a standard format means you can integrate with multiple Data Providers without custom parsing for each one.

## When to use Outbound vs Connect

| Criteria                 | Outbound (Open Banking)                         | Connect (Screen-based)                    |
| :----------------------- | :---------------------------------------------- | :---------------------------------------- |
| **Data access method**   | Direct API from financial institution           | Credential-based extraction               |
| **User consent**         | OAuth consent at the financial institution      | User enters credentials in Flinks Connect |
| **Credential handling**  | Credentials never leave the bank                | Credentials securely stored by Flinks     |
| **Institution coverage** | Growing — depends on Data Provider availability | Broad — supports hundreds of institutions |
| **Data freshness**       | Real-time via API                               | Near real-time with nightly refresh       |
| **Best for**             | Institutions that support Open Banking APIs     | Broad institution coverage, legacy banks  |

<Note>
  Outbound and Connect can be used together. Use Outbound for institutions that support Open Banking, and fall back to Connect for institutions that don't yet have Open Banking APIs.
</Note>

## Getting started

1. **Receive client credentials** from Flinks during onboarding (`client_id` and `client_secret`)
2. **Register with Data Providers** whose customers you want to serve
3. **Implement the OAuth authorization flow** to obtain user consent
4. **Call FDX endpoints** to retrieve financial data

For step-by-step instructions, see the [Outbound API Getting Started](/api/outbound/getting-started) guide.

## Related resources

* [Outbound API Reference](/api/outbound/endpoints)
* [FDX Endpoints](/api/outbound/endpoints/fdx/index)
* [Authorization Endpoints](/api/outbound/endpoints/authorize/index)