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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.

Image result for paperclip iconDepartment 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.

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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.

Image result for paperclip iconFDATA North America Data on the Need for Credential-Based Authentication

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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

  1. 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.
  2. 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. 
  3. An image of Ghela Boskovich is attached,
  4. Media: for more information contact Message Matters (Andy Maciver, 07855 261 244; Louise Robertson, 07930 539 832)

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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.

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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.”

Image result for paperclip iconFDATA Fintech Task Force Letter for the Record

To watch the hearing, click here.

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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.

Image result for paperclip iconFDATA 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.

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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.

Image result for paperclip iconFDATA North America Digital Identity White Paper

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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.”

Image result for paperclip iconFDATA Fintech Task Force Letter for the Record

To watch the hearing, click here.

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