News - Page 16 of 29 - Financial Data and Technology Association (FDATA)

July 11, 2021by paul paul No Comments

FDATA Australasia

What is FData

The Financial Data and Technology Association is a not-for-profit global association for financial sector companies that use open finance in their business models. Our members provide innovative financial applications and services to empower customers to make better decisions and take fuller control of their financial lives across all their payment accounts, credit cards, loans, mortgages, investments, pensions and retail insurance. We seek to work with government, regulatory authorities and the financial services industry in our mission to enshrine the rights of customers to be able to share their financial data with regulated actors of their choosing.What do we do for the Financial Sector?

We lobby governments and regulators to release the benefits of open finance for the benefit of their consumers, and we represent the conceptual views of our members as well as becoming deeply involved in the specific, detailed and often technical implementation of open finance solutions. FDATA holds the market to account for doing open finance in a way that puts the needs of customers first, and removes complexity, risk and engineering cost where possible.

What are we doing in ANZ?
FDATA has played an active and successful role in ANZ, particularly in relation to the Consumer Data Right during its introduction of Open Banking. Our liaison with the ACCC, OAIC, DSB and Treasury, has seen us provide advisory works and recommendations around the customer experience, the global perspective and the role of Third Parties and Intermediaries within Open Banking. FDATA has also worked with the regulators in relation to the next layer of CDR, Open Energy, and will continue to lobby for a common-sense approach to remediating the existing framework.

In October 2020, FDATA convened and mediated a Roundtable between the Cloud Accounting Fraternity, the ACCC and the Treasury Department. The purpose of this roundtable was to provide direct and content-specific feedback to the Regulators in a timely fashion ahead of the Rules consultation deadline. The outcome of this meeting was additional actions to be taken by the Data Standards Body, the Treasury Department and the ACCC. This has since been repeated on two occasions with favourable outcomes for our members and the market alike.

Our services to our members include one-on-one consultations, collaborative All-member’s calls and events with special guests, i.e. Daniel McAuliffe, Paul Franklin, Scott Farrell and Industry Leaders in technology, the sharing of global perspectives, intelligence and reports, formal submissions on-behalf of member’s, access to industry experts and shared networks for progressing the greater conversations across all aspects of banking and finance. This includes access to global best-practice research from the Global Open Finance Centre of Excellence

Our works continue to support both our New Zealand members, but also the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment with their consideration of a CDR option for New Zealand, and the Department of Internal Affairs in their pursuit of a Digital Trust and Digital Identity Frameworks to promote an Economy Wide Data sharing framework with Industry and Consumer considered. FDATA is also contracted by the API Centre/API Council to design a roadmap for delivering an Economy-wide data-sharing framework.

Does FDATA focus on Open Banking only?
Whilst FDATA has initially focused on Open Banking, as advocates for economy-wide data-sharing FDATA has commenced working with the Energy sector and will continue to support each new sector of the CDR.What do you get for membership?

Each chapter of FDATA works tirelessly to reform and progress Data Portability within their own jurisdiction, but at the same time, adding to the global evolution of Digital Finance and Consumer Rights. By investing in FDATA you play an active role in improving delivery and shaping the future. Our work is 100% funded by member contributions. The membership fees are important to give FDATA members the bandwidth to tackle an increasingly complex array of challenges. FDATA members are often competitors who have signed up to the FDATA charter and recognise the importance of working collaboratively together to improve the quality of the marketplace, which is in their mutual interests.

Join us, and you can:
• drive the FDATA policy which we take directly to decision-makers;• enjoy direct access to decision-makers and influencers as part of FDATA ANZ delegations; receive forward intelligence on industry changes;• participate in regional working groups with like-minds and visionaries• have an opportunity to shape the industry’s future by creating FDATA ANZ blueprint & policy; access the global insights and network of FDATA’s reach;• collaborate and network with other key players in the sector at our member meetings.

Are there other FDATA Chapters?
We have chapters and representatives in:
• Australia/New Zealand, Australasia
• Europe
• United Kingdom
• North America
• South America

How do you become a member?
Just fill out the application form:https://fdata.global/membership-application-form/ and we’ll take it from there.

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July 9, 2021by rebecca rebecca No Comments

FDATA North America: White House EO Will Help Individuals, Families and Small Businesses Recovering From Pandemic

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

July 9, 2021, Washington, DC – The Financial Data and Technology Association (FDATA) of North America today issued a statement following the release of President Joe Biden’s Executive Order on financial competition. In the order, the president directs the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to issue a regulation that would allow bank customers to have access to, and share, their own financial data. FDATA North America Executive Director Steve Boms said:

“Today’s Executive Order represents a significant step forward for consumers and small business towards an open finance regime in the United States. Coming out of a pandemic and recession, a CFPB rule will improve financial inclusion, enhance customers’ access to affordable credit, and help families and businesses improve their financial wellbeing.

This order also will help create a customer-centric, 21st century financial services marketplace that boosts competition. Major markets around the world have implemented or are designing open finance regimes. U.S. consumers must not be left behind and, today, the White House is one step closer to making sure that they are not. FDATA North America and its members are eager to work with the CFPB and the Biden administration to implement this incredibly important regulation.”

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.

Members include: air (Alliance for Innovative Regulation), APImetrics, Betterment, BillGO, Codat, Direct ID, Envestnet Yodlee, EQ Bank, Experian, Fiserv, Flinks, Interac, Intuit, Inverite, Kabbage, Mogo, Morningstsar, M Science, MX, Petal, Plaid, Questrade, Quicken Loans, SaltEdge, Trustly, ValidiFI, VoPay, Wealthica, Xero, and others.

July 7, 2021by paul paul No Comments

Open Letter to CMA re Future of OBIE – June2021 (2)

We, as leading financial technology companies and their representatives, are writing to you in advance of the CMA Board’s consideration of the future of the Open Banking Implementation Entity (OBIE).

We welcome the CMA’s recent review of the Open Banking Future Entity, however we have concerns about the process of reviewing UK Finance’s (UKF) proposal, and the future direction of the stewardship of open banking in the UK market. Our concerns are mirrored by the considerable number of stakeholders, TPPs, ecosystem players, and trade bodies that responded to the consultation expressing similar concerns:

Decision making in the hands of the large banks, the ability for those banks to exit the Future Entity, and lack of independent oversight for the entity creates undue risk to the future of open banking

The consultation is limited to only the UKF proposal, and has not given due consideration to approaches proposed by other stakeholders

There has been little transparency in the disclosure of alternative proposals submitted, and in the decision to consult on only one proposal.

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July 1, 2021by rebecca rebecca No Comments

Member Spotlight: Kabbage

In the wake of the Great Recession, Kathryn Petralia and Rob Frohwein launched Kabbage, a startup whose mission would be to use data-driven solutions to empower small businesses to grow with flexibility, efficiency, and prudence. Since then, Kabbage, which is now an American Express company, transformed itself from a funding startup for eBay sellers into a leading cash-flow management platform for all small businesses. Over half a million small businesses accessed more than $16 billion through Kabbage and, during the COVID-19 pandemic, it was the second largest Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) lender in the United States during the first round of PPP, approving nearly 300,000 applications.

By connecting real-time, existing third-party business data to Kabbage, small businesses can be approved for a line of credit between $1,000 to $150,000 in minutes. (Kabbage charges no origination fees, annual fees, monthly maintenance fees, or documentation fees for its small business loans.) It’s new online Kabbage Checking™ account comes with no monthly maintenance fees and small business customers receive a 1.10 annual percentage yield (APY) on balances up to $100,000. Kabbage Payments helps businesses send, process, and settle invoices quickly.

The company’s offerings have been particularly helpful for underserved entrepreneurs. As Kabbage noted in a February 2020 news release, a joint report penned by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland found credit-worthy Black-owned small businesses are about 20 percent less likely than credit-worthy white-owned small businesses to receive approval for financing at both large and community banks. Even when approved for credit, minority-owned businesses are less likely to be approved for the amount they need. Kabbage and its automated underwriting platform improves financing experiences for underserved small businesses by only measuring their true business performance to make credit decisions, creating a blind application process.

With Kabbage, small businesses are approved by analyzing their real-time, and objective, business performance data, eliminating hurdles that may contribute to the struggles minority-owned firms face in traditional loan-application processes. Kabbage also offers data insights to arm entrepreneurs with knowledge to grow their companies. The firm’s Small Business Resource Center includes information on topics ranging from invoicing to competitor analysis to switching checking accounts.

Kabbage was acquired by American Express in 2020 to continue to expand American Express’s B2B offerings beyond their Card business with Kabbage’s broader set of cash flow management tools.

Kabbage co-founder Kathryn Petralia discussed the future of financial technology with Forbes in February 2021. Her comments sum up the benefits of a customer-directed finance system. Petralia said, “It all boils down to the user experience and consumers’ on-demand expectations. Banks are increasingly being commoditized. Fintechs will become the de facto face of money management, as they provide exceptional user experiences that remove friction points common with traditional banking. It shouldn’t take days or weeks to open a bank account, multiple days to settle funds, or months to be approved for a loan. Fintechs will make financial services more seamless and accessible for everyone.”

June 29, 2021by rebecca rebecca No Comments

FDATA North America Submits Comments to US Financial Regulators’ Request for Information on Financial Institutions’ Use of AI and ML

June 29, 2021, Washington, DC – Today, the Financial Data and Technology Association (FDATA) of North America submitted comments to the US financial regulators as part of their Request for Information (RFI) on financial institutions’ use of artificial intelligence (AI), including machine learning (ML). The Federal Reserve, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (NCUA), National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) sought comments on the use of AI by financial institutions and their products and services to consumers.

Throughout the submission, FDATA North America Executive Director Steve Boms discussed the importance of embracing new technologies that improve customer experience and foster innovation. Additionally, Boms noted that “as nations around the world adapt to modernized open finance regime in which the consumer and small business have the unfettered ability to access and share their financial data with companies of their choosing, financial institutions and service providers are quickly embracing AI to attract and retain their customers, expand access to credit and improve financial access, and combat financial crime.”

Boms concluded by underscoring that “the promulgation of a legally binding financial data right is a critical first step towards broader deployment of AI-enabled financial tools that can meaningfully improve financial access and wellbeing,” along with more clarity from the agencies regarding the application of existing supervisory expectations on third-party bank partners that utilize AI-enabled tools for various financial products and services.

FDATA North America Submission to Financial Regulators’ AI/ ML RFI

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

May 31, 2021by paul paul No Comments

2021 Q2 Wrap

Formal Submissions
On behalf of our members FDATA responded to a call for formal submissions by the Treasury Department on
the proposed changes to Joint Account – Opt-Out model for Open Banking.

Download Here 2021 Q2 Wrap

May 26, 2021by paul paul No Comments

‘OPT-OUT’ JOINT ACCOUNT DATA SHARING MODEL – SUBMISSION

Open Finance, a precursor to the Consumer Data Right, began as a grassroots movement, campaigning for the legal rights of consumers and businesses to have control of their financial data and share this data with businesses of their choice digitally. It is part of a broader suite of Open Data initiatives to empower consumers and small businesses to access, change and benefit from the data held about them by governments and institutions.

The initiative has gathered considerable momentum; various markets worldwide assess, adopt, or implement laws and regulations to support it. In the EU, Canada, USA, Mexico, Brazil, India, Japan, Australia, Russia, New Zealand, South Korea, Singapore, and many other significant markets are already at varying stages of review, policy development or implementation.

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May 12, 2021by rebecca rebecca No Comments

Member Spotlight: SaltEdge

Founded in 2013 , Salt Edge Inc., a leader in creating and providing open banking solutions, takes intercommunications and interoperability between banks, third-party service providers, and their end-users to a whole new level. The company achieves this goal by creating stable, secure connectivity channels between financial institutions and their consumers.

For consumers, Salt Edge’s solutions help create tools that give them a wider view of their finances. With Oval Money Ltd., for example, Salt Edge provided an API to track users’ expenses and earnings automatically from any account. Open banking is integral to this product. As Salt Edge explained, “This wide functionality is only possible if all the users’ transactions are consolidated automatically from various sources and they do not have to input data manually.”

For lenders, Salt Edge helps users access a new channel of real-time financial data that automatically verifies applicant’s identity, account number, income sources, and balance in real time. Lenders can evaluate a potential borrower’s financial behavior more accurately, which helps them keep risk under control.

Today, Salt Edge is connected to more than 5000 financial institutions across the world. By joining FDATA North America, Salt Edge plans to bring the same cohesive, secure, consumer-friendly system to individuals, families, and small businesses in Canada and the United States. “We’re all into proactive engagement, pursuing an appropriate legal framework, which will support the development of open-banking-based financial services. Open banking in North America is quite different from the European practice, so getting a mandated and regulated state of certainty will definitely catalyze things to move forward,” Salt Edge CEO Dmitrii Barbasura said.

In a February 2021 blog post, Barbasura outlined the six elements necessary to make open banking work in any country. These include:

Control – any market participant that seeks to get access to the open banking ecosystem should be verified and licensed.
Providing third parties with access to financial data or payment initiation capabilities should apply the most secure, but at the same time, convenient means of authorization and user authentication.
Uniformity of conditions.
Insuring every involved party against fraudulent acts, data breaches, operational disruption, and other risks.
Ensuring monetization of APIs.
Access to all consumer accounts, if a consumer allows it. Accounts will determine the next step in open banking evolution – open finance.

Barbasura concluded, “Combined with mobile platforms, open banking provides secure and fast access to financial services anywhere and in the most comfortable format for the user.”

Salt Edge joined FDATA North America in April 2021.

May 7, 2021by rebecca rebecca No Comments

Member Spotlight: BillGO

Founded in 2015, BillGO is driven by the core belief that everyone deserves access to a healthy financial future. BillGO helps facilitate this access by providing consumers, billers, fintechs and financial institutions with a faster, smarter, more secure way to pay and manage bills and subscriptions.

So how can bill payment technology improve financial wellbeing?

Consider this: even though most consumers trust financial institutions (FIs) to manage their money, only 22 percent of them use the bill pay technology their FIs provide. Seventy-six percent, meanwhile, pay their online bills directly to biller websites, which is both a cumbersome and risky method of managing bills.

When asked why they reject FI-offered bill pay technology, many consumers say their FI bill pay technology is outmoded. It is difficult to use, offers little visibility and fails to provide real-world bill payment confirmation. This lack of confirmations has real-world results – namely late fees. A 2019 study revealed late credit card payments alone cost consumers up to $3 billion a year.

By offering a modernized, real-time bill pay solution, BillGO not only helps consumers avoid late payments and fees by sending due date reminders but also provides consumers with a single, consolidated tool to manage bills and payments, eliminating the need to log into multiple biller sites each month to manage their financial obligations.

BillGO’s mission doesn’t stop there. In 2020, BillGO launched its Bill Pay Relief Hub, a resource originally conceived to help consumers impacted by bills brought on by COVID-19. Since then, the Hub’s mission has expanded, providing help to consumers facing an array of economic setbacks. The Hub now connects consumers to more than 300 businesses and FIs offering payment relief. In 2020, Banking Tech Awards named the Hub one of 2020’s Best COVID Responses by a Fintech.

Speaking of awards, Fortune recently named BillGO one of the “Best Places To Work” in the financial services industry. And last March, Forbes named BillGO one of “America’s Best Startup Employers” because of its reputation as an employer, its high levels of employee satisfaction, and its potential for growth.

BillGO’s award-winning real-time bill management and payments platform transforms the dreaded necessity of managing and paying bills into an opportunity for financial well-being. The company currently serves more than 32 million consumers, 8,000 FIs and nurtures relationships with more than 170,000 billers and suppliers nationwide and is headquartered in Colorado, with offices in Ohio and Washington state, employing more than 250 people.

April 30, 2021by paul paul No Comments

FDATA Response to FCA Consultation Paper 21/03 Changes to the SCA-RTS

Below is FDATA Europe’s response to the consultation on the SCA-RTS. We are grateful for the opportunity to respond, and would like to highlight a few points before presenting our formal response and recommendations:

• Article 10a exemption for TPPs needs to explicitly carve out the requirement to perform SCA every 90 days, and make it clear that ASPSPs do not have the option to require it after the initial connection is made and consent is in effect

• Any delays in the implementation of the proposed revisions to SCA-RTS will have materially negative impact on the entire UK market; 2023 is too long to wait, as a number of existing firms will necessarily leave the market due to customer attrition and churn, resulting in a spectacular failure of Open Banking. The timeline for change must be expedited.

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