FDATA in the News

The term “open banking” might conjure up an image of a bank branch decorated like a hip loft where the teller isn’t behind bulletproof glass. There’s also a good chance that “open banking” means nothing to you. However, it’s something you should probably get to know because it could change the landscape of the financial services industry.

Banks, fintech firms and data aggregators are asking regulators to provide more clarity on how to handle consumer data and who is responsible for leaks when it is shared between firms – a request that’s seemingly a reversal from the deregulatory approach the industry often takes.

When your credit card bills are piling up and you’ve got little hope of ever paying them down, the option that comes with the most risk can feel like the only choice.

A controversial rule requiring advisers to act in their clients’ best interests when it comes to managing retirement accounts has been ferociously contested, and may soon be dead.

Open banking, powered through Open APIs, puts the consumer, at the center of the financial services ecosystem. In this new, innovation-driven environment, those market players that provide solutions to consumers where they most demand them will flourish, whether they are traditional banks or fintech firms.

While PSD2 was the subject of extensive focus for European banks, businesses, tech firms, and fintechs, these institutions may not be ready for another data initiative, the General Data Protection Regulation, set to come into effect this May. In fact, studies show that less than half of businesses in the U.K are even aware of GDPR, much less ready to comply.

Welcome to the bonus year. Independent annuity agents and the marketing organizations that serve them were against the proverbial wall, blindfolded and enjoying a last vape when the Department of Labor’s (DOL) new secretary, Alexander Acosta, issued a fiduciary rule reprieve until mid-2019. Now, instead of exiting from the annuity market en masse, dazed agents and IMOs find themselves with a new lease on life.

Have you found a financial management app you’re dying to download? Your bank might be withholding your account data from the app.

Yodlee, a financial data aggregator and technology company, hired Allon Advocacy to work on issues relating to consumer financial data, credit reporting, cybersecurity and government rules about fiduciary standards. The company is one of Allon Advocacy’s first lobbying clients. The firm has also signed Freedom Financial Network, which offers loans and mortgages, in addition to debt settlement services.