Because the value is in not being commodified. Not giving API access is worth more than charging for it.
If all of your credit lines, checking, savings, and investment accounts were an API call away, the institutions providing those no longer build relationships that can be profitable; they're simply utilities you could swap out interchangeably. As such, they're not a fan of this idea.
In crime we call it “organised” crime. I’m banking it’s just “doing business”. Maybe we should make this kind of invention of value out of thin air illegal?
If all of your credit lines, checking, savings, and investment accounts were an API call away, the institutions providing those no longer build relationships that can be profitable; they're simply utilities you could swap out interchangeably. As such, they're not a fan of this idea.