FDATA North America March Newsletter

by rebecca

FDATA North America Monthly Newsletter for March 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 NA Submits Comments to Canada’s Pre-Budget Consultations 2024. On February 9, 2024, FDATA NA submitted comments to Canada’s Department of Finance as part of its pre-budget consultations for Budget 2024. The submission advocated for Canada to enhance the inclusion of consumer-driven banking (CDB) outlined in the 2023 Fall Economic Statement, aiming for a comprehensive Canadian open finance framework. Our comments also called on the Canadian government to legislate a CDB Framework in Budget 2024, establish a robust governance entity to oversee this framework, and outline a vision for open finance, signifying the next advancement in financial services. The submission noted that the proposed governance entity should be neutral, transparent, capable of making quick, binding decisions, and accountable, ensuring the framework’s success and sustainability while promoting market innovation and competition for the benefit of Canadian consumers and SMEs. FDATA released a statement on its submission of the comment letter, which can be found here.

FDATA NA Submits Comments to Canada’s Consultation on Strengthening Competition in the Financial Sector. On February 28, 2024, FDATA NA submitted comments to Canada’s Department of Finance regarding the consultation on strengthening competition in the financial sector. Our comments outlined four initiatives crucial for creating a more inclusive, innovative, and competitive financial ecosystem: 1) advancing Consumer-Driven Finance (CDF) and adopting an open banking regime to empower consumers and SMEs with control over their financial data; 2) accelerating the deployment of the Real-Time Rail (RTR) to modernize payment infrastructure, enabling instant payment processing; 3) implementing the Retail Payment Activities Act (RPAA) regulations for payment service providers (PSPs) within a robust regulatory framework to enhance payment system security and efficiency; and 4) amending the Canadian Payments Act (CP Act) to allow non-bank payment providers direct access to payment rails. FDATA released a statement on its submission of the comment letter, which can be found here.

Member News & Activity

API Metrics published a blog post announcing the formation of APIContext Inc., a merger between APImetrics Inc and Contxt Ltd, to offer comprehensive solutions for API oversight and integrity. The newly formed company aims to address the challenges of creating reliable, productized APIs by providing end-to-end visibility, proactive risk measures, and comprehensive monitoring capabilities to empower businesses.

Basis Theory posted a blog explaining the intricacies of global payment processing, highlighting its necessity for e-commerce businesses to reach an international customer base and the variety of services offered by global payment processors to facilitate cross-border transactions efficiently. The blog emphasized the importance of selecting the right global payment processor, considering factors such as supported currencies, fees, security, and integration capabilities, to enable businesses to cater to global markets effectively.

Betterment’s VP of Legal, Joshua Rubin, discussed on the #inSecuritiespod how the company navigates the complex regulatory landscape, including its approach to the fiduciary rule, by addressing overlapping regulations and explaining why their stance sometimes diverges from the broader financial services industry’s perspective on rulemaking proposals.

EQ Bank was mentioned in a Business Wire article for partnering with Trulioo, an industry-leading identity verification platform, to streamline its digital banking onboarding process. This partnership enables EQ Bank to provide a frictionless customer experience with enhanced security and compliance, utilizing Trulioo’s advanced document verification, AI checks, and customizable workflow solutions.

Flinks posted a blog highlighting the growing importance of Account-to-Account (A2A) payments, describing them as a significant evolution in the financial transaction landscape. A2A payments, which enable direct fund transfers between accounts and bypass traditional intermediaries, are gaining traction due to their speed, cost efficiency, and enhanced security, supported by financial institutions, fintech companies, and payment processors.

GoCardless published a blog post announcing the extension of its partnership with Dyce Energy, a UK-based energy provider, for an additional three years, for easy bill collection through Direct Debit payments.

Inverite was mentioned in a BNN article for its advancements in the fintech and alternative lending sectors through its Open Banking Platform. The article noted that Inverite is revolutionizing consumer directed banking, providing innovative solutions for data enrichment, identity verification, risk management, and compliance, thereby transforming the alternative credit economy.

Morningstar Wealth published a blog highlighting the significance of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) within the U.S. financial data-sharing ecosystem, particularly focusing on the evolving open banking system. Brian Costello, Head of Data Aggregation Strategy and Governance at ByAllAccounts, emphasized the importance of empowering consumers with greater control over their financial data to support innovation in financial services, advocating for a holistic approach that promotes DEI in financial product design and implementation to ensure the financial well-being of all.

MX published a blog summarizing the ten key themes of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s proposed rulemaking on personal financial data rights, including concerns about the scope of data covered, restrictions on secondary use cases, ambiguity in liability definitions, the potential for charging fees, the need for technical and interface standards, transitioning from screen scraping, consent and authentication protocols, tokenized account numbers, overlaps with existing regulations like Fair Credit Reporting Act and Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act, and concerns about the proposed compliance timeline.

Trustly’s Matt Janiga, Legal Counsel and Director of Regulatory and Public Affairs, published a blog applauding the CFPB’s efforts in advancing Open Banking through Section 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Act, while offering suggestions to improve the proposal for a more inclusive Open Banking ecosystem. Janiga emphasized the need for adjustments in areas such as data-sharing duration to align with consumer expectations, the practicality and security concerns around Tokenized Account Numbers (TANs), the importance of allowing safe, pro-consumer secondary data usage, and enhancing consumer experiences through better API standards and fallback options.

Ozone API was mentioned in The Paypers article for partnering with CLOWD9 to enhance their services to clients, combining Ozone API’s expertise in facilitating Open Banking innovations with CLOWD9’s payments processing platform. The article noted that the collaboration aims to create a comprehensive ecosystem to support banks and financial institutions in adapting to the evolving landscape of Open Finance, promising to foster growth and innovation within the industry.

Events and Submission Deadlines

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