Banks and fintechs lock horns on consumer data

If you’re interested in the design of policy to put data into the hands of customers, there’s three weeks to provide Treasury with a response to its draft bill that will introduce a “consumer data right” into the Australian economy.

Banking will be the first sector to which the new right will apply – and fintech innovation is set to proliferate as a result. It will then extend to energy and telecommunications, meaning the law will stir competitive forces across some of the most important industries in the country.

The Treasury Laws Amendment (Consumer Data Right) Bill 2018, released for comment last week, is being closely scrutinised by banks, fintechs and law firms across the country.

There’s good reason for that: the World Economic Forum recognised in its comprehensive report on artificial intelligence in financial services last week that regulations governing data portability will shape which companies are winners and losers in the new economy.

The release of the exposure draft wasn’t the only action in the emerging data economy last week. The second meeting of the “data standards body advisory committee”, which is advising the Data61 data standards body’s chair Andrew Stevens, took place.

Early indications suggest the group – which includes the big four banks and Macquarie, who are counterbalanced by representatives from a smaller bank, consumer groups and fintechs and regulator observers – is coming at the design of the open banking standards with customers front of mind.

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Source: Banks and fintechs lock horns on consumer data | afr.com