Wesabe just released a REST API. The key details for developers are pretty standard:

  • Be responsible (Extra responsible because it’s financial data).
  • Don’t store passwords, especially when you could just prompt the user.
  • It’s currently read-only

Why should you, the non-programmer (or recovering programmer) care? Even if you don’t know how to use the API, this is a big step in unleashing the power of crowdsourced spending reports. I think the Wesabe guys said it best:

Wesabe is a site that exists in order to change the balance of information — and with information, power — between consumers and the businesses we patronize. As I’ve written before, we believe that businesses know way too much about consumers (where we live, how much we make, our roommates, our magazine subscriptions, and so on), and consumers know way too little about businesses. Our mission is to unlock the power of financial data.

Furthermore, as people scratch their personal itches with this new access, the one-off features that geeks build will help more than just themselves. Want mobile updates when your account balance reaches a certain threshold? How about email alerts whenever your (shared) credit card is used at Coach? All of these longtail features are now just an eager hacker, long weekend, and case of Mountain Dew away.