FDATA North America Highlights the Importance of Credential-Based Authentication in the Absence of a Viable Alternative
January 30, 2020, Washington, DC: Today, the Financial Data and Technology Association (FDATA) of North America released a paper that summarizes the critical need for credential-based authentication to continue in order for consumers to maintain access to the tools on which they depend to manage their financial wellness. FDATA North America determines that, in the absence of screen scraping, as many as 1.8 billion consumer accounts would lose access to data elements required to power the tools they use today to automate their savings, manage their finances, or apply for affordable credit, among many other use cases. While a transition away from credential-based access is something all stakeholders in the financial ecosystem are working towards, the data clearly shows that this method of consumer-permissioned data access is a vital tool for enabling consumer choice, competition, and innovation.
FDATA North America Data on the Need for Credential-Based Authentication
FINTECH TRADE ASSOCIATION APPOINTS RENOWNED INDUSTRY EXPERT AS ITS EUROPEAN LEADER
Ghela Boskovich, the economist, fintech expert and diversity champion has been appointed as the European Chapter Leader at the Financial Data and Technology Association (FDATA). She goes into post with immediate effect and joins fellow chapter leaders at FDATA North America, FDATA Australia/New Zealand and FDATA Asia.
The Financial Data and Technology Association is a global association for financial services companies operating in fintech. Its 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 accounts, credit cards, loans and investments. Boskovich will remain Global Ambassador for FemTechGlobal, the organisation promoting inclusion and diversity in financial services which she founded in 2015.
Gavin Littlejohn, FDATA Global Chairman, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to have secured Ghela as our chapter leader for Europe. She is one of the best known people in the global fintech community and she brings a wealth of experience and creativity to this critical role. “Ghela is the perfect fit for FDATA as we continue to argue for maximising data democracy and regulatory standardisation across Europe. We can’t wait for her to get started.”
Ghela Boskovich, FDATA Europe Chapter Leader said: “I believe in an ethical competitive landscape, one that focuses on the best outcome and most value for the end consumer. FDATA advocates for just that, and I’m delighted to be joining a great team, and all the FDATA members, working tirelessly to that end. The European market is setting the global policy standard for data rights; it is an honour and a great responsibility to be part of that work to transform financial services for the greater good.”
ENDS
NOTES
- The Financial Data and Technology Association is a global association for financial services companies operating in fintech. Its 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 accounts, credit cards, loans and investments. It seeks to work with government, regulatory authorities and the financial services industry in our mission to open up the financial sector all over the world to the benefits of financial data and technology. It has chapters in Europe, North America, Australia/New Zealand and Asia.
- Ghela Boskovich is a self-proclaimed Fintech fanatic, and Founder of FemTechGlobal™, a network dedicated to challenging the status quo, and improving the inclusiveness and diversity in Financial Services. Frequent keynote speaker and editorial contributor, Ghela focuses on how to fast track internal innovation, specifically on the practical application and comercialisation of fintech/bank collaboration. She is preoccupied with fostering an ethical data democracy, individual consumer empowerment over their data, data economy disruptive business models, and facilitating banks’ emerging technology consumption.
- An image of Ghela Boskovich is attached,
- Media: for more information contact Message Matters (Andy Maciver, 07855 261 244; Louise Robertson, 07930 539 832)
FDATA North America’s Response to Visa’s Acquisition of Plaid
FDATA North America’s Response to Visa’s Acquisition of Plaid
January 14, 2020, Washington, DC: Steve Boms, executive director of the Financial Data and Technology Association (FDATA) North America released the following statement regarding Visa’s acquisition of Plaid:
“Visa’s announcement of its intention to acquire Plaid is exciting news for supporters of open banking, and is the latest demonstration of the immense value that open banking can provide not only to consumers and small businesses, but to industry participants. The partnership between the two companies creates even more momentum for open banking to take hold in the North American market and is a harbinger of continued progress for consumers’ right to access their financial data.”
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 (the Alliance for Innovative Regulation), Betterment, Envestnet Yodlee, FGS, Flinks, Intuit, Kabbage, Lendified, Mogo, Morningstsar, M Science, MX, Petal, Plaid, Questrade, Quicken Loans, Petal, Plaid, The ID Co., TransUnion, Trustly, VoPay, Wealthica and others.
FDATA North America Submits Comments to US House Financial Technology Task Force on Big Data in Financial Services
November 20, 2019, Washington, DC – Today, FDATA North America submitted comments to the US House Financial Services Committee Task Force on Financial Technology in advance of its November 21st hearing, “Banking on Your Data: the Role of Big Data in Financial Services.”
FDATA Fintech Task Force Letter for the Record
To watch the hearing, click here.
FDATA North America Outlines “Essential Ingredients” for Industry-Led Open Banking Work Groups
FDATA North America Outlines “Essential Ingredients” for Industry-Led Open Banking Work Groups
Contact: Kerrie Rushton, (202) 365-6338, [email protected]
November 19, 2019, Washington, DC – The Financial Data and Technology Association (FDATA) of North America today announced the release of a white paper that provides guidance to United States and Canadian standards-creation bodies and policymakers as they seek to establish industry-led working groups that would begin to design voluntary standards around open banking regimes in their respective countries.
“As a chapter of the global organization that has been responsible for informing the creation and design of open banking regimes around the world, we believe these are the ingredients for any well-designed standards group,” said FDATA North America Executive Director Steve Boms. “For the benefit of consumers and small businesses – the ultimate end users of the financial services ecosystem – and to maintain the competitiveness of their respective economies, it is essential that any standards bodies created in the United States and Canada have representation from all stakeholders in the financial services and financial technology sectors and focus their work on the key issues the private sector can address.”
The white paper addresses the scope, composition, and essential subcommittees for proposed industry-led working groups, and advises that government representatives must guide the groups “to encourage participants to look beyond commercial interests and keep at the center of the body’s work the consumer’s and small business’ best interests at all times.”
FDATA North America also outlines several of the questions these working groups must answer. These include queries about technology, permissioning, accountability and liability, legal and regulatory issues, governance, and oversight.
FDATA North America Essential Ingredients of an Open Banking Working Group
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, Envestnet Yodlee, Flinks, Intuit, Kabbage, Lendified, Mogo, Morningstsar, M Science, MX, Questrade, Quicken Loans, Petal, Plaid, The ID Co., TransUnion, Trustly, VoPay, Wealthica and others.
FDATA North America Submits Whitepaper to Finance Canada on Digital Identity
October 4, 2019, Washington, DC – Today, FDATA North America submitted a whitepaper to Canada’s Department of Finance on digital identity and the notion that it is not a necessary component of open banking.
This paper follows a request from the Department for an assessment of the various digital identity tools available in the market today, the state of digital identity in other markets, as well as an analysis of the digital identity tools currently in the market and their availability to provide for a digital identity framework in Canada.
FDATA North America Submits Comments to US House Financial Technology Task Force on Alternative Data in Underwriting
July 24, 2019, Washington, DC – Today, FDATA North America submitted comments to the US House Financial Services Committee Task Force on Financial Technology in advance of its July 25th hearing, “Examining the Use of Alternative Data on Underwriting and Credit Scoring to Expand Access to Credit.”
FDATA Fintech Task Force Letter for the Record
To watch the hearing, click here.
FDATA North America Welcomes Five New Members
FDATA North America Welcomes Five New Members
Contact: Kerrie Rushton, (202) 365-6338, [email protected]
July 9, Washington, DC – The Financial Data and Technology Association (FDATA) of North America today announced it added five new members in June, bringing the association’s total membership to 22.
“The remarkable growth over the last month indicates support for Open Banking in the United States, Canada and Mexico is expanding rapidly,” said FDATA North America Executive Director Steve Boms. “Financial technology firms are eager to engage in Ottawa, Washington, D.C. and Mexico City in an effort to create a modern and safe system that puts consumers in charge of their data, and their financial lives. As Open Banking increasingly becomes a global phenomenon, we hope FDATA’s growing presence will spur policymakers in North America to act with the same haste.”
The following organizations joined FDATA North America in the last month:
- Axcess. Based in Ontario and Victoria, Australia, Axcess provides solutions in the product management area, including loans and investments, to financial institutions.
- Mogo. Serving more than 800,000 consumers throughout Canada, Mogo leverages technology and design to help users manage their finances and improve their financial health.
- The ID Co. Based in Edinburgh, Scotland with operations in Canada, The ID Co. works with banks, lenders, innovators and nonprofits to help businesses use their financial data to expand.
- TransUnion. With operations throughout North America, TransUnion uses credit data to provides the tools and insight that consumers need to make informed financial decisions.
- Wealthica. Based in Montreal, Wealthica works with more than 60 Canadian financial institutions to give consumers an unbiased view of their investments.
“In the United Kingdom, nearly 10,000 consumers a day are signing up to access the Open Banking network,” said FDATA Global Chair Gavin Littlejohn. “Our member companies were an important part of the movement that is giving consumers more control over their financial data in Europe. To ensure their constituents have the same opportunities, North American policymakers must move quickly but deliberately. Axcess, Mogo, The ID Co., TransUnion and Wealthica, along with FDATA North America’s other member companies, provide some of the most innovative products on the market today. We look forward to a landscape where more consumers and businesses can capitalize on these tools.”
Existing FDATA North America members include: Cardlytics, Envestnet Yodlee, Flinks, Intuit, Kabbage, Lendified, Moven, Morningstsar, MX, Onist, Questrade, Quicken Loans, Petal and Plaid, among others.
FDATA North America recently 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.
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.
FDATA North America Highlights Importance of Consumer Data Ownership Before U.S. Congress
In advance of the first hearing of the United States House of Representatives’ Task Force on Financial Technology, titled “Overseeing the Fintech Revolution: Domestic and International Perspectives on Fintech Regulation,” the Financial Data and Technology Association (FDATA) of North America submitted a Letter for the Record on the importance of adopting a modernized financial regime, similar to other countries around the world, that provides consumers with the legal right to their financial data in a well-managed, safe and secure ecosystem.
To read FDATA North America’s Letter for the Record, click here.
For more information on the Fintech Task Force hearing taking place on June 25, 2019, click here.