‘Open banking’ era dawns in Australia
Australian’s major banks will have to starting giving customers greater access to their own data from next week in what one analyst says will eventually be a “seismic shift in retail banking”.
“Open banking” starts Monday after more than a year in the works, moved forward by the Treasury Department, CSIRO data innovation network Data61 and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
“It’s going to be a game changer for the way Australian banks operate,” said David Link, chief executive of Melbourne fintech company Verrency.
“It’s absolutely about democratising access to data.”
It’s part of a project known as Consumer Data Rights, and follows similar rules laid out in the UK that came into effect last year, said FinTech Australia chairman Alan Tsen.
The theory is that “you as a consumer actually own your data. Just because a bank has it, doesn’t mean that it’s theirs.”
The project is rolling out in stages and the changes taking place on July 1 are not revolutionary but they are getting the ball rolling on a process that analysts believe will be.
“Open banking is a seismic shift in retail banking driven by regulatory changes, changing consumer preferences, and technology-enabled innovation,” Deloitte partner Paul Wiebusch wrote in a recent briefing paper.
As of Monday customers of the big four banks – ANZ, Westpac, Commonwealth Bank and NAB – will be able to grant third parties access to “product data” about their accounts.
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