Department of Finance Archives - Financial Data and Technology Association (FDATA)

February 22, 2022by rebecca rebecca No Comments

FDATA North America Submits Comments to Canada’s Department of Finance in Response to 2022 Budget Consultation

February 22, 2022, Washington, DC – Today, the Financial Data and Technology Association (FDATA) of North America submitted comments to the Canadian Department of Finance, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland and Associate Minister Boissonnault as part of the Canadian government’s 2022 Pre-Budget consultation.

With the resumption of Parliament, and Budget 2022 planning well underway, our letter urged the Department to fully implement all phases of the Advisory Committee on Open Banking’s recommendations, which lay out a thoughtful, well-researched approach to building a “made in Canada” open finance system that puts consumers and small businesses at the center of a more competitive financial marketplace.

Our letter also clarified that the first step to achieving this important goal, and to provide market stakeholders with a legally binding policy framework under which such a regime can be delivered, is to appoint an Open Banking Lead, which should be responsible for working with industry and government stakeholders to create the policy and governance standards under which open finance can be delivered in early 2023.

We also called on the government to begin work on the Advisory Committee’s second phase, which must include write access – a critical component of account creation and account switching capabilities – as well as modernization of the Canadian Payments Act to ensure payments service providers, including credit unions and fintechs, have access to the critical Payments Canada system. As we say in the letter, these are thorny issues which require much consideration and engagement and will take time to get right.

FDATA Finance Canada Budget 2022 submission

Members include air (Alliance for Innovative Regulation), APImetrics, Basis Theory, Betterment, BillGo, Codat, Direct ID, Envestnet Yodlee, Equitable Bank, Experian, Finansystech, Fiserv, Flinks, Interac, Intuit, Inverite, Kabbage, Mogo, Morningstsar, M Science, MX, Petal, Plaid, Questrade, Rocket Mortgage, SaltEdge, Trustly, ValidiFI, Vaultree, VoPay, Wealthica, Xero, and others.

February 7, 2022by rebecca rebecca No Comments

FDATA North America Submits Comments to OSFI’s Consultation on Technology and Cyber Risk Management

February 7, 2022, Washington, DC – Today, the Financial Data and Technology Association (FDATA) of North America submitted comments to the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) as part of its public consultation on Draft Guidance B-13: Technology and Cyber Risk Management.

Throughout the response, FDATA North America discussed the interplay between B-13 and the development of open banking in Canada, particularly that the harmonization of efforts between the Department of Finance’s open banking work and OSFI’s approach to third-party cybersecurity risk will be essential. FDATA North America’s Executive Director Steve Boms noted that as OSFI develops its technology guidelines for third-party technology partners to banks, “we respectfully offer that significant consideration has already been undertaken on this issue by the Department of Finance, and stakeholders would benefit from some form of public documentation that clearly distinguishes OSFI’s authority and responsibilities with regards to third-party financial technology providers from those of the Department of Finance as it works to implement a Canadian open banking system.” Boms noted that publicly clarifying how these two projects will interact will provide clear direction to the marketplace about how third-party providers can continue to offer their valuable financial services and products in an innovative, competitive marketplace.

Additionally, FDATA North America touched on the importance of clarification from OSFI that providers with whom consumers engage directly, without any intervention from their federally regulated financial institution (FRFI), do not fall under the B-13 framework. Thus, the goal of the consultation should be to ensure that FRFIs third-party risk management requirements mirror their ability to oversee entities with whom they have direct relationships, and not to overburden FRFIs with system-wide oversight that instead “should fall to a collaborative regulatory effort including Finance Canada’s open banking accreditation regime.”

Boms concluded by noting that in order to facilitate enhanced market competition and customer choice, “it is imperative that OSFI with the Department of Finance to harmonize regulatory expectations of customer-selected financial providers as open banking takes hold in Canada.”

FDATA North America Submission to OSFI’s B-13 Consultation on Technology and Cyber Risk Management

November 10, 2021by rebecca rebecca No Comments

FDATA North America Joins Industry Trade Groups in Letter to Department of Finance on Implementation of Recommendations from the Advisory Committee on Open Banking Report

November 10, 2021, Washington, DC – Last week, the Financial Data and Technology Association (FDATA) of North America, along with the Paytechs of Canada Association and the Canadian Lenders Association (CLA), sent a joint letter to Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland requesting that the Department adopt the phase one and two recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Open Banking report and urging its public support for the same.

In the letter, the groups, whose organizations represent nearly 250 financial technology companies, emphasize the importance of swift implementation of the recommendations to ensure Canada remains competitive in the global market. Countries around the world, from the United Kingdom and New Zealand to Australia and the United States, have seen marked improvements in financial access and inclusion through open finance products delivered by technology-based financial services providers. “By contrast, Canadian consumers or small businesses have no legally binding right to their own financial data, which stifles competition and innovation in the financial services marketplace,” the groups state.

Additionally, the groups state that a delay of implementation of the Advisory Committee’s recommendations open the door for some of Canada’s large financial institutions to dismiss the government’s intention to deliver open finance in line with the report’s recommendations, which undermine the certainty around the commitments.

“It is critically important that the government confirm to financial institutions, financial technology companies, and Canadian consumers and small businesses its intention to implement an open finance regime in line with all of the Advisory Committee’s recommendations,” the groups state. Specifically, they point to the appointment of an open banking lead “as soon as possible,” creating a legally binding financial data right, and beginning work on the Advisory Committee’s second phase, “which must include payment initiation and account creation capabilities, as well as a formal governance entity.”

March 15, 2021by rebecca rebecca No Comments

FDATA North America Sends Letter to Canada’s Department of Finance on Next Steps in Delivery of CDF

March 15, 2021, Washington, DC – Today, the Financial Data and Technology Association (FDATA) of North America submitted comments to Canada’s Department of Finance outlining its key recommendations for next steps in the deliver of Customer-Directed Finance (CDF).

Following the conclusion of the second phase of the CDF advisory committee’s consultations at the end of last year, FDATA North America Executive Director Steve Boms encourages the Department to advance the process of implementing a CDF system in Canada this year by:

Appointing a full-time, senior staffer at the Department as soon as possible whose sole responsibility will be to oversee the design and delivery of a CDF regime in Canada; and
Creating a CDF Implementation Entity tasked with the policy design and implementation of open finance in Canada.

Boms noted that FDATA North America and its members “are committed to seeing CDF become a reality for the benefit of Canadian consumers and SMEs. To achieve this goal, and to provide industry with the policy framework under which such a regime can be delivered, we respectfully encourage the Department to begin implementation of a CDF in Canada by appointing a senior staffer within the Department to be responsible for the delivery of CDF and by creating the CDF Implementation Entity as soon as possible.”

FDATA North America Submission to the Department of Finance

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. Its members collectively provide tens of millions of consumers in Canada, the United States and Mexico with aggregation-based tools to better manage their finances. Existing FDATA North America members include: air (Alliance for Innovative Regulation), API Metrics, Betterment, Codat, Direct ID, Envestnet Yodlee, EQ Bank, Experian, Fiserv, Flinks, Interac, Intuit, Kabbage, Mogo, Morningstsar, M Science, MX, Petal, Plaid, Questrade, Quicken Loans, TransUnion, Trustly, ValidiFI, VoPay, Wealthica, Xero, and others.

January 31, 2020by rebecca rebecca No Comments

FDATA North America Statement on Department of Finance Canada Open Banking Report

FDATA North America Statement on Department of Finance Canada Open Banking Report

Contact: Kerrie Rushton, (202) 365-6338, [email protected]

January 31, 2020, Washington, DC – The Department of Finance Canada today released Consumer-Directed Finance: The Future of Financial Services, which is the result of more than nine months of consultation with stakeholders in the financial services and financial technology sectors. Financial Data and Technology Association (FDATA) of North America Executive Director Steve Boms issued the following statement upon release of the report:

“When announcing these consultations back in January, Finance Canada said Open Banking ‘could better serve consumers and grow businesses and markets, contributing to the growth of the Canadian economy.’ That absolutely is true and this report from the advisory committee makes that evident.

“Now we get to the ‘how.’ How can stakeholders work together to create a system that puts consumers in control while safeguarding their privacy and security and introduces competition into the market? We look forward to continuing to work with Finance Canada to create a system that empowers individuals, families, and small business owners to take control of their financial lives.

“As Finance Canada has made clear, creating an Open Banking regime is a must-do task for Canadian lawmakers. The private sector, however, does not have to wait to start implementing consumer-centric open banking technology and services. Financial institutions, including those currently restricting their customers’ ability to take advantage of third-party tools, like CIBC, the Bank of Montreal and Scotia Bank, should not wait until they are forced to comply with government demands to let consumers be in control of their own data. They should start doing so now.”

In addition to its consultations with Finance Canada, FDATA North America has published white papers for Canadian and U.S. policymakers that outline the benefits of Open Banking and provide policy and oversight recommendations for lawmakers and regulators. “Opportunities in Open Banking” for the United States is here. The Canadian paper is here. FDATA North America analysis on the report’s findings is here.

Department of Finance Canada’s Report on Consumer-Directed Finance: The Future of Financial Services

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. Its members collectively provide tens of millions of consumers in Canada, the United States and Mexico with aggregation-based tools to better manage their finances. Existing FDATA North America members include: The Alliance for Innovative Regulation, Betterment, Direct ID, Envestnet Yodlee, Fintech Growth Syndicate, Flinks, Intuit, Kabbage, Mogo, Morningstsar, M Science, MX, Petal, Plaid, Questrade, Quicken Loans, TransUnion, Trustly, VoPay, Wealthica and others.