Joint Bank Accounts

Identifying joint accounts is a known challenge in open banking. Most financial institutions only return information for the primary account holder who logged in — joint holders are typically not visible through their online banking platform.

That said, there are three ways to detect whether an account is jointly held:

i. PDF Statements

• The most reliable option. Use the GetStatement API to retrieve the official bank statement and check the Account Holder Name field — joint account holders are usually listed together on the document.

ii. Identity-Based Verification (IBV)

• If both account holders have connected through your application, you can cross-reference their information using the /GetAccountsDetail endpoint. Compare the following fields across both users:
  • Institution number
  • Transit number
  • Account number
• A match across both profiles is a strong signal that they share the same account.

iii. Attributes Package

• If the Attributes package is enabled, Flinks can detect income signals from multiple employers within a single account, which may indicate joint ownership. Look for activity across the following data points:
  • employer_a
  • employer_b
  • employer_other

Note: None of these methods is definitive on its own. We recommend combining signals where possible for a more confident assessment.