FDATA North America July Newsletter

by rebecca

FDATA North America Monthly Newsletter for July 2024

Welcome to FDATA North America’s monthly newsletter! These regular dispatches will share developments from our organization and our 30+ member companies, all of which are promoting financial access and inclusion with open finance use cases. We also include a list of upcoming industry events, and coverage of any market developments that impact fintech innovators. Know someone who’d like to receive these monthly updates? Send them here to sign up.

FDATA North America News

FDATA North America Sends Letter to Missouri Regulator to Support Consumer-Permissioned Data Access. On June 20, 2024, the Financial Data and Technology Association of North America (FDATA) sent a letter to Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft in response to warnings issued by the Missouri Securities Division. These warnings, sent on May 23, 2024, to over 40 state-registered advisors, raised concerns about the use of clients’ log-in credentials to access financial information with client consent. FDATA North America’s letter emphasized the importance of allowing financial advisors to access and review clients’ financial information for providing informed recommendations that improve financial outcomes for Missourians. They highlighted the negative impact of the Division’s warning, which discourages the use of third-party tools that enhance clients’ investment and financial outcomes. FDATA North America reiterated its commitment to data privacy and information sharing, advocating for secure consumer-permissioned data access. They urged the Missouri Securities Division to consider mandating secure interfaces for consumer-permissioned data access for retirement and securities accounts, in alignment with forthcoming federal rules by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, ensuring consumers can safely share their financial data with third parties. FDATA released a statement on its submission of the letter, which can be found here.

Member News & Activity

Basis Theory published a blog highlighting how connected payments help improve margins and reduce risk for merchants. Connected payments allow merchants to implement a logical layer between purchase requests and transaction submissions, enabling flexibility, improved fraud detection, and reduced risk, ultimately enhancing profitability and ensuring secure, continuous improvement of their payment systems.

Codat published a blog explaining how their bank transaction categorization engine works to improve decision-pmaking and efficiency in business lending by automating and accurately categorizing transactions. By leveraging real business data and integrating banking and accounting information, Codat’s engine helps lenders enhance data accuracy, streamline operations, and make more informed lending decisions.

Envestnet posted a new podcast episode on Data Driven Finance featuring Steve Boms, Founder & President at Allon Advocacy, discussing regulations in financial services. Key highlights include regulation readiness for open banking, key metrics for connected finance, and reassurances consumers need when sharing data.

Fiserv published an article discussing how financial institutions can combine self-service convenience with personal attention to satisfy consumers in the age of digital banking. By evolving and automating branches, financial institutions can balance delivering personal attention with providing self-service capabilities, ultimately improving efficiency, customer satisfaction, and revenue growth.

Flinks posted a blog announcing that Flinks Pay now supports Electronic Funds Transfers (EFTs) and has introduced an improved payment workflow that unifies the experience from onboarding to account activation. By providing a single, seamless workflow for validation, authorization, and payment setup, Flinks Pay helps Canadian lenders and borrowers manage their payments efficiently, reducing manual processes, minimizing fraud risk, and enhancing overall operational efficiency.

GoCardless was featured in the Summer edition of Financial IT Magazine, where CPO Andy Wiggan addresses whether open banking was overhyped, the potential for bank payments to compete with cards, and what it will take for VRPs and commercial use cases to achieve unanimous success.

MX’s Jane Barratt attended the Fifth Workshop on Credit Card Lending, Consumer Finance, and the AI Revolution on June 27–28, 2024. The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia and the Supervisory Research and Policy Forum (SURF) organized the workshop, providing a platform for regulators, industry experts, and academics to discuss key topics shaping the consumer finance industry, including innovations in open banking, payment networks, data privacy, and the impact of ML/AI on consumer lending.

Plaid was featured in a Fast Company article highlighting its new Plaid Layer technology, which simplifies the process of signing up for financial accounts and linking bank accounts to just 15 seconds. This innovative solution allows users to set up accounts with compatible financial services using stored data, significantly reducing the time and effort required for onboarding and boosting user conversion rates by up to 25%.

Events and Submission Deadlines

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