Contact: Kerrie Rushton, (202) 365-6338, [email protected]
April 2, 2019, Washington, DC – The Financial Data and Technology Association of North America today released a new paper, “Opportunities in Open Banking,” that outlines the benefits of open banking for U.S. consumers, businesses, financial institutions and the economy.
“The ‘data revolution’ is reshaping nearly every element of Americans’ lives – how we connect, communicate, travel and work,” said FDATA North America Executive Director Steve Boms. “It’s also fueling a fundamental shift in how people and businesses spend, save and manage money around the world. To spur improved financial outcomes and to keep up with global innovation, policymakers in the United States should implement an open banking regime that provides consumers with the legal right to their financial data and builds appropriate safeguards around a well-managed ecosystem.”
The new paper discusses:
- The consumer demand for open banking and why the right to share data is at the heart of it;
- The benefits of open banking, including empowering customer choice, ensuring customer protection and enabling industry innovation;
- Consumer consent in an Open Banking system;
- How data and technology are shared and utilized in an open banking ecosystem; and
- Policy and oversight recommendations for U.S. lawmakers and regulators.
“If implemented properly, open banking will preserve the security and stability of the financial system while empowering customers and accelerating opportunities for innovation,” said Boms. “This paper provides an outline for success in the United States, based on lessons learned from other jurisdictions. Other countries, including Canada, Australia, Russia and China are moving swiftly in the direction of open banking. U.S. policymakers must act if they want to enhance financial inclusion and ensure their constituents to have similar opportunities for financial success.”
FDATA North America also recently submitted comments to the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking in response to its request for information on data privacy. In that letter, Boms argued, “Under an Open Banking system, data empowerment goes hand in hand with data privacy. By placing consumers and small businesses – the owners of financial data – at the center of the framework, end users are given complete control over their data. This construct provides them with the opportunity to improve their financial wellbeing by empowering them to use their data for value-based services of their choice, and to control which entities have access to their financial data at all times.”
FDATA’s “Opportunities in Open Banking” is available here. The letter to the Banking Committee is here.
ABOUT FDATA NORTH AMERICA
FDATA was heavily involved in the UK Open Banking Working Group in 2015. In 2016, the working group’s output was published by Her Majesty’s Treasury as the Open Banking Standard. FDATA North America was founded in early 2018 by several firms whose technology-based products and services allow consumers and small businesses to improve their financial wellbeing. Its members provide approximately 3.5 million Canadians, or roughly 15 per cent of Canada’s adult population, with aggregation-based tools to better manage their finances.