APIs · head to head
Aiia vs Salt Edge
Aiia
APIs
Open banking and open finance API platform, now operating as Mastercard Open Banking
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
Salt Edge
APIs
Independent open banking aggregator covering Europe by PSD2 API and other markets by direct connection
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Aiia it is now part of Mastercard rather than an independent company, so a business specifically wanting to avoid card network dependency in its banking infrastructure no longer gets that separation by choosing Aiia.; Salt Edge coverage outside regulated open banking markets is not all direct bank API, and connections that are not regulated interfaces break when a bank changes its systems, so a headline country count overstates the reliability you will actually experience.
- They diverge on capability: Aiia covers Bank account data access, Salt Edge covers Account information.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Aiia and Salt Edge actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), free tier (No), platforms (Web, API), user rating (Not yet rated), category (APIs).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in Aiia
- Bank account data access
- Mastercard Open Finance integration
- Modern authentication support
- Multi-country coverage
- Developer documentation and sandbox
Only in Salt Edge
- Account information
- Wide country coverage
- Open Banking Gateway
- Categorisation and enrichment
- Consent management
- Partner and white label
- Sandbox
Both cover
- Payment initiation
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Aiia
- A lending or credit product needing affordability checks via European bank account datanot Salt Edge
- A personal finance or accounting product needing transaction history across Nordic and European banksnot Salt Edge
- A payments product wanting account-to-account payment initiation under open banking regulationnot Salt Edge
- A business wanting the stability and continued investment of Mastercard ownership behind its banking connectivity providernot Salt Edge
Salt Edge
- A lender operating across several European and non-EU markets that needs one aggregation contract rather than a different provider per countrynot Aiia
- A fintech that wants an aggregator not owned by a card network because its use case competes with card productsnot Aiia
- An accounting or treasury product that needs bank feeds in markets the large aggregators do not servenot Aiia
- A bank that must publish PSD2-compliant APIs and would rather buy the compliance layer than build itnot Aiia
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Aiia
- It is now part of Mastercard rather than an independent company, so a business specifically wanting to avoid card network dependency in its banking infrastructure no longer gets that separation by choosing Aiia.
- Pricing is not published and requires engaging Mastercard's open finance sales process, which can be a heavier sales motion than dealing with a smaller independent open banking provider.
- Its strongest bank coverage remains concentrated in the Nordics and Northern Europe, so companies needing dense coverage in Southern or Eastern Europe should verify current bank connectivity before committing.
- Brand confusion is real: developer documentation, login portals and older case studies still reference "Aiia" while newer Mastercard material refers to "Mastercard Open Banking," and a company researching either name in isolation may miss half the relevant material.
- As with any open banking platform, reliability still depends on the consistency of the underlying banks' own APIs, which is a systemic industry issue rather than something Aiia specifically controls.
Salt Edge
- Coverage outside regulated open banking markets is not all direct bank API, and connections that are not regulated interfaces break when a bank changes its systems, so a headline country count overstates the reliability you will actually experience.
- Pricing is not published and is usage-based, so two providers cannot be compared without running both sales processes, and cost grows with the connected user base rather than with revenue.
- Support and engineering are distributed across Eastern Europe and Canada, and buyers in other time zones report slower turnaround on connection-specific breakages than they get from a domestic provider.
- PSD2 consent rules require customers to reauthenticate periodically, and Salt Edge cannot change that, so any product depending on continuous data must design for consent expiry and the drop-off it causes.
- United States coverage is weaker than Plaid or Mastercard Open Banking, so a company with meaningful US volume ends up running two aggregators and normalising between them.
Pricing, plan by plan
Aiia
On request- Aiia Enterprise (Mastercard Open Banking)$undefined/year
- Pricing not published, quote via Mastercard Open Finance sales
Salt Edge
On request- Salt Edge Open Banking API$undefined/year
- Account information and payment initiation
- Coverage across 50 plus countries
- Consent management and enrichment
Which should you pick?
Choose Aiia if
- You need bank account data access.
- You work on Web, API.
- You also want mastercard open finance integration.
Choose Salt Edge if
- You need account information.
- You work on Web, API.
- You also want wide country coverage.
Questions people ask
- Is Aiia or Salt Edge better?
- Neither clearly leads. Aiia starts at On request and Salt Edge at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Aiia or Salt Edge?
- Aiia starts at On request and Salt Edge at On request.
- Does Aiia or Salt Edge run on more platforms?
- Both run on Web, API, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
- What is Aiia best used for?
- Aiia is most often used for a lending or credit product needing affordability checks via european bank account data, a personal finance or accounting product needing transaction history across nordic and european banks, a payments product wanting account-to-account payment initiation under open banking regulation, a business wanting the stability and continued investment of mastercard ownership behind its banking connectivity provider. Of those, a lending or credit product needing affordability checks via european bank account data and a personal finance or accounting product needing transaction history across nordic and european banks are not what Salt Edge is typically brought in for.
- What can Aiia do that Salt Edge cannot?
- Aiia covers Bank account data access, Mastercard Open Finance integration, Modern authentication support, Multi-country coverage. Salt Edge covers Account information, Wide country coverage, Open Banking Gateway, Categorisation and enrichment. Both handle Payment initiation.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Aiia: Is Aiia still an independent company?
No, it was acquired by Mastercard in 2021 and now operates as part of Mastercard Open Finance Solutions, referenced as Aiia Enterprise.
Salt Edge: Who owns Salt Edge?
It is independently owned, unlike Tink (Visa), Finicity (Mastercard) or Yodlee (Envestnet), which matters if your use case competes with the owner.
Aiia: Does the Aiia brand still exist?
Yes, in developer documentation and login portals, but the company behind it is Mastercard.
Salt Edge: Is all coverage direct bank API?
No. Inside PSD2 markets connections use regulated APIs; elsewhere coverage relies on direct connections whose reliability depends on the bank not changing its systems. Ask for a per-institution answer.
Aiia: Which banks does it cover?
Around 3,000 European banks, with strongest coverage in the Nordics and Northern Europe.
Salt Edge: Does it do payments as well as data?
Yes, payment initiation is supported in European markets where PSD2 applies.
Salt Edge: What does it cost?
Not published. Pricing is usage-based and quoted, though the sandbox is free.
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