This article explores the pressing issue of social inequalities in developing countries and how financial inclusion can act as a public policy tool for empowering marginalized populations. By examining government aid programs, disruptive financial technologies, and open data in financial services, the article highlights the potential of a financially integrated population to improve social conditions. The adoption of an inclusive and amplified public policy, alongside access to basic infrastructures and formal education, can significantly impact social inequalities in developing countries.
March 29, 2023, Washington, DC – – In response to yesterday’s release by the Government of Canada of its 2023 Budget, FDATA North America Executive Director Steve Boms issued the following statement:
“We are disappointed at the lack of progress in Budget 2023 toward the implementation of Canada’s open banking regime, particularly since the timeline set forth in the 2021 Open Banking Advisory Committee report has now passed. Despite this omission, FDATA North America and its over 30 member companies look forward to continued collaboration with the Department of Finance as it seeks to make a new Canadian consumer-centered open banking system a reality in the coming months.”
March 28, 2023, Washington, DC – FDATA North America today submitted a letter in response to the Canadian government’s review of the Competition Act. As a trade association representing dozens of some of the most innovative financial technology companies working alongside Canadian consumers and small- and medium-sized enterprises, we support the development of a more competitive marketplace in which consumers and SMEs may choose the provider, tool or service that best fits their unique need. We also used this review submission as another opportunity to urge the Government of Canada to make concrete progress on the development of its open banking regime, particularly since the deadline set forth in the 2021 Advisory Committee Report on Open Banking has now passed.
The letter stressed the important need to update and right-size the Competition Act to reflect today’s current business environment to maintain competition in the market for data-driven financial services, noting that these updates must address situations where certain market participants either individually or collectively override a decision by a consumer or SME to direct a potential competitor to electronically access their financial information. Our letter particularly described how restrictions on customer-directed data sharing that directly inhibit competition must be scrutinized under well-established competition laws as the Department of Finance works to implement an open banking regime for Canada, any stressed that any new legislation or regulations regarding competition in the financial services marketplace should be aligned with the Department’s work on this file.
The letter also identified several provisions of the Competition Act that apply to financial institutions could be more actively used to prevent financial institutions from blocking consumer-permissioned data access to third party financial providers of their choosing, and shared details on how the United Kingdom and Australia developed their open banking regimes to maximize competition and consumer benefit.
March 27, 2023, Washington, DC – FDATA North America today submitted its response to draft regulations from the Bank of Canada and Department of Finance that would implement the Retail Payment Activities Act (RPAA). The letter notedthat adoption of these proposed regulations would see as many as 2,500 payment service providers (“PSPs”) overseen under a strong regulatory framework and would, once finalized and implemented, meaningfully advance the modernization of Canada’s financial services marketplace. It also respectfully suggested that the implementation of these regulations should facilitate an expedited inclusion into the scope of Canada’s open banking framework of payment use cases.
The letter strongly supports the objectives of the draft regulations and the underlying Act, but noted the absence of the critical component of end-user education. FDATA therefore suggested that the Bank of Canada and/or the Department of Finance develop an end user education plan to be deployed in concert with the implementation of the draft regulations, and that government work with market stakeholders, including PSPs, in an effort to provide consumers and SMEs with consistent information about the benefits and protections afforded to them under the draft regulations.
FDATA also expressed appreciation for inclusion of a clear timeline within which applications submitted by PSPs would be required to be reviewed by the Bank of Canada and the Department Finance. Since many FDATA members have experienced regulatory delays in application processing in other jurisdictions’ payment modernization and/or open banking frameworks, FDATA welcomes the certainty provided by the regulatory-imposed timelines for consideration of a PSP’s application.
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!
Monthly FDATA Member Spotlight: Envestnet
This month’s member spotlight features Lisa Novier, Head of Governance, Risk and Compliance at Envestnet Data Analytics. Lisa tells us how Envestnet’s role in providing connectivity of consumer-permissioned financial data is critical in realizing the full potential of this data and explains Envestnet’s high level of engagement with policymakers to promote finalization of the Dodd-Frank Section 1033 rulemaking.
FDATA NA News
FDATA North America Releases Data Privacy Principles. FDATA North America and its 30+ member companies recently released a set of principles to govern the usage, disclosures, liability, oversight, and technology involved in open finance ecosystems. Upon release of these new principles, FDATA North America Executive Director Steve Boms said: “As policymakers in both Canada and the United States contemplate open finance and federal data privacy frameworks, FDATA North America’s members are pleased to have collaborated on a set of privacy principles that we hope will inform their work. This release is a detailed and comprehensive set of principles which we intend to serve as critical guideposts for legislators and regulators in the U.S. and Canada as they undertake the important work of creating modernized, customer-centric financial services regulatory environments.” A high-level summary of these principles is available here. The full set of these principles is available here and can be shared with attribution.
Save the Dates: FDATA to Host Two Upcoming Summits in the US and Canada. FDATA North America will be hosting two Open Banking summits in 2023. The first will be held in Washington, DC, on April 20th, and the second in Ottawa, Canada on May 17th. These events will feature influential speakers, unique networking opportunities, and in-depth conversations with policymakers, public officials, and subject-matter experts from FDATA and its member companies. Space for both events is limited, so be sure reserve your spot via the links above!
Member News & Activity
Basis Theory has been named to Fast Company’s list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies in Security for 2023, ranking #3 ‘for making it easy to tokenize any data.’
Codat’s Gabby Macsweeney, Head of Communication and Product recently sat down with Caary Capital for a Q&A to discuss what Canada can learn from the UK regarding Open Banking and funding small businesses, particularly on the use of standardized ‘funding passports’ that can improve and shorten the application process for small businesses. While acknowledging that Canada is behind the UK when it comes to formal open banking implementation, Macsweeney did note “that four million Canadians are already accessing budgeting or account aggregation tools via screen scraping in the absence of APIs.”
Flinks’ Meng Guan, Product Marketing Manager, published a new post on the Flinks blog entitled: “Lending in volatile times: harness the power of cash flow analysis” which explains how consumer-permissioned data aggregation allows lenders to obtain cash flow data directly from borrowers’ bank accounts and conduct cash flow analysis to quickly gauge borrowers’ ability to repay. The post also explained how this cash flow analysis can be used to expand access to credit, strengthen fraud prevention, and improve the efficiency of lenders’ processes.
Method Financial’s Co-Founder and COO Mit Shah published a new blog post entitled: Open Finance Takes Center Stage in Washington” which described the importance of the CFPB’s Section 1033 rulemaking to facilitate open banking in the US, and detailed how and why Method is engaging with policymakers on this issue, including an overview of the recent comment letter they submitted in response to the CFPB’s Section 1033 SBREFA Outline.
Morningstar ByAllAccounts Head of Data Aggregation Strategy Brian Costello is featured in a question and answer-styled article titled “The hopes and limitations of consumer data services in the US” by The Paypers. The article provides valuable insight and details into the latest consumer financial data moves in the US, and the future of data sharing and embedded finance.
MX’s CTO Wes Hummel joined the Fintech Confidential podcast with Tedd Huff to discuss his journey in the fintech industry, the future of open banking, and shared his insights on customer focus, scalability, and security in financial technology. He also talked about the legacy of MX’s late co-founder, Brandon Dewitt, and the opportunities ahead for the company and the broader fintech industry.
Plaid’s Head of Policy John Pitts and Kaitlin Asrow, Executive Deputy Superintendent of Research and Innovation of the New York Department of Financial Services, discussed innovation and regulation at a recent Money 20/20 conference. The discussion was recently released on Money 20/20s “Money Pot” podcast and is available here. The pair discussed ways that regulators can think more in line with innovators, and innovators can better communicate with rulemakers.
Trustlyannounced a partnership with PointsBet in collaboration with Cross River Bank to leverage Open Banking so PointsBet can offer players instant payouts, giving them real-time access to their winnings. In addition to the announcement, Cross River Bank, Trustly, and PointsBet hosted a webinar: Enhancing the Faster Payments Ecosystem. Trustly also hosted a webinar on Open Banking: The Open Banking Era: How We Got Here & Where We Are Going, and published this blog post which breaks down the concept of Open Finance.
Vaultree published a new blog post entitled: “How encryption can help the finance industry win the battle against cyberattacks” which explains how fully functional data-in-use encryption is becoming the best tool to help financial institutions mitigate the costs of data breaches and ensure customer data privacy.
Vopay published a new blog post entitled: “Hidden Value in Plain Sight: The Potential of Embedded Finance” which details the significant growth and future potential of embedded finance and the ‘API economy’ that goes with it.
Xero produced a new video entitled: “Quality over Quantity: Exploring Data Collection Minimization,” in which Xero’s experts unpack data collection minimization, including the pitfalls of collecting more data than necessary, the benefits of giving customers choice about what data they disclose, and the importance of explaining why personal data is being requested. Kendra Vant, EGM, Data at Xero, moderates this panel discussion featuring Claire Knight Whiting, GM Legal, Global Privacy at Xero, and Xero’s Responsible Data Use Advisory Council members Anna Johnston of Salinger Privacy and Maribel Lopez of Lopez Research.
This member spotlight features Lisa Novier, Head of Governance, Risk and Compliance at Envestnet Data Analytics. Lisa tells us how Envestnet’s role in providing connectivity of consumer-permissioned financial data is critical in realizing the full potential of this data and explains Envestnet’s high level of engagement with policymakers to promote finalization of the Dodd-Frank Section 1033 rulemaking.
March 6, 2023, Washington, DC – FDATA North America and its 30+ member companies today released a set of principles to govern the usage, disclosures, liability, oversight, and technology involved in open finance ecosystems. Upon release of these new principles, FDATA North America Executive Director Steve Boms said:
“As policymakers in both Canada and the United States contemplate open finance and federal data privacy frameworks, FDATA North America’s members are pleased to have collaborated on a set of privacy principles that we hope will inform their work. Today’s release is a detailed and comprehensive set of principles which we intend to serve as critical guideposts for legislators and regulators in the U.S. and Canada as they undertake the important work of creating modernized, customer-centric financial services regulatory environments.”
The first section of this document includes definitions of data types, and requirements for minimization, secondary usage, and silent parties. The second section covers consumers disclosures, what elements they should include, their length, and options for consumer revocation. The third section discusses assessments of data breach liability, notification requirements, and consumer redress. The fourth section covers regulatory oversight, and suggests which regulators in the U.S. and Canada should be granted supervisory authority over data privacy to ensure that consumers, data providers, and third-parties are protected and acting responsibly. The final section covers the technology involved in user authentication and authorization, and how they can be changed and revoked by consumers.
A high-level summary of these principles is available here. The full set of these principles is available here and can be shared with attribution.
This month’s member spotlight features Mit Shah, COO and Co-Founder of Method Financial, who explains how Method’s technology allows customers to securely permission their financial data to third-party providers of their choosing without having to use traditional credential-based methods:
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!
Monthly FDATA Member Spotlight: Method Financial
This month’s member spotlight features Mit Shah, COO and Co-Founder of Method Financial, who explains how Method’s technology allows customers to securely permission their financial data to third-party providers of their choosing without having to use traditional credential-based methods:
FDATA NA News
FDATA Welcomes GoCardless and Method Financial as New Members. FDATA is happy to welcome two new member companies this month: GoCardless and Method Financial. GoCardless is a direct bank payment platform that streamlines both one-time and recurring payments, can collect payments from 30+ countries quickly and securely, and easily integrates into over 350 other business systems. Method Financial is an embedded banking service that allows developers to easily retrieve and pay any of their users’ debts through a single API, which provides access to 15,000+ lenders in the US, covering 95% of consumer debt.
FDATA Submits Comment Letter in Response to CFPB Section 1033 SBREFA Outline of Proposals for Consideration. On January 25th, FDATA submitted a comment letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in response to its Outline of Proposals for Consideration for the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA) implementing Section 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Act. FDATA North America has long advocated for the CFPB to issue a rule implementing Section 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Act using the best information available from the broadest number of market stakeholders possible. We commend the CFPB for outlining a strong series of proposals that, when implemented, will create a more competitive, more accessible, and more inclusive financial services marketplace. Our letter also encouraged the CFPB to broaden the scope of covered accounts and covered recipients under the rule to maximize its impact, among other important improvements we suggest the Bureau to consider. FDATA North America looks forward to continuing our positive engagement with the CFPB as this rulemaking process continues.
Save the Dates: FDATA to Host Two Upcoming Summits in the US and Canada. FDATA North America will be hosting two Open Banking summits in 2023. The first will be held in Washington, DC, on April 20th, and the second in Ottawa, Canada on May 17th. These events will feature influential speakers, unique networking opportunities, and in-depth conversations with policymakers, public officials, and subject-matter experts from FDATA and its member companies. Stay tuned for more details, including registration, sponsorship opportunities, and speakers, in the coming weeks!
Member News & Activity
Codat was recognized in OpenFutureWorld’s annual Open Finance Global Rankings of the organizations, countries, and individuals leading progress in open finance around the world.
Flinks has published an “Open Banking Glossary” of the most frequently used terminologies in North American open banking that will be regularly updated.
MX’s Vice President for Strategic Accounts & New Markets Matt West joined the Fintech Insider podcast to discuss the journey from Open Banking to Open Finance to date, and the challenges and opportunities for developing a truly global system.
Plaid Co-Founder and CEO Zach Perret joined several of his colleagues for an hour-long discussion of their 2023 fintech predictions, including developments in crypto, the FedNow system, and if open finance is going to finally “take off” in the U.S.
Trustly CEO Alex Gonthier was featured in a Leaders in Payments Podcast episode discussing the Trustly origin story, its core mission, and its vision for the future as well as where he sees the industry going in the next two to three years as it relates to real-time payments, crypto, blockchain, and stablecoin. Trustly also released this whitepaper which helps merchants understand the true cost of card acceptance and how to lower processing costs.
Vopay published a new post on its blog entitled “The Need For Speed: How FinTech Is Addressing Lending’s Biggest Pain Points,” which explained the many diverse benefits of faster payment options, including reduction of NSF fees and rapid loan disbursements.
Xero’s Chief Product Officer Anna Curzon spoke with BetaKit to explain the challenges of building what she calls a “purposeful platform” for small businesses, and mentioned how the limited development of open banking in Canada is a persistent barrier to developing new products.
Events and Submission Deadlines
February 13-16: Merchant Advisory Group (MAG) Mid-Year Conference and Tech Forum
January 25, 2023, Washington, DC – The Financial Data and Technology Association (FDATA) of North America submitted a comment letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in response to its Outline of Proposals for Consideration for the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA) implementing Section 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Act. Upon filing the comment letter, Executive Director Steve Boms said:
“As an organization representing more than 30 financial technology and data aggregation companies, FDATA North America has long advocated for the CFPB to issue a rule implementing Section 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Act using the best information available from the broadest number of market stakeholders possible. We commend the CFPB for outlining a strong series of proposals that, when implemented, will create a more competitive, more accessible, and more inclusive financial services marketplace. As it prepares to issue a proposed rule implementing Section 1033, we encourage the CFPB to broaden the scope of covered accounts and covered recipients under the rule to maximize its impact, among other important improvements we suggest the Bureau to consider. We look forward to continuing our positive engagement with the CFPB as this rulemaking process continues.”
While FDATA’s comment letter expressed support for all the proposals in the SBREFA outline, it also urged the CFPB to expand the scope of this rulemaking by:
Covering a broader swath of both covered parties, including small businesses and investors, and account types, including providers of government benefit accounts used to distribute needs-based benefits programs, utility, nonfinancial, and payroll accounts, and accounts held by financial institutions not covered by Regulation E or Regulation Z;
Guarding against potential commercial incentives by data providers to restrict data access for particular use cases by ensuring that customer authorization may not be overridden except in very limited circumstances;
Requiring as many financial institutions as practicable to build and implement credential-less data access methods, while allowing sufficient time for smaller financial institutions to do so;
Permitting credential-based or PII and account number-enabled data access to persist as fallback options in instances in which data is not accessible through other means;
Clearly distinguishing between customer data and de-identified data with regard to secondary use cases;
Calibrating the timeline for implementation for credential-less data access based on financial institution size, and
Establishing a new regime for direct CFPB supervision of data aggregation platforms.
Over the past several years, FDATA has repeatedly urged the CFPB to advance a Section 1033 rulemaking, including in its response to the CFPB’s October 2020 Section 1033 Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) and last years’ CFPB Request for Information (RFI) on so-called “Junk Fees.” FDATA North America has also advocated for a Section 1033 rulemaking through comment letters to other federal agencies, including its response to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s and Federal Reserve’s Proposed Interagency Guidance on Third-Party Risk Management, and to the National Institute of Standards and Technology in response to its draft report on Cybersecurity Considerations for Open banking Technology and Emerging Standards.
