The Account Aggregator system introduced recently will help individuals and small businesses in procuring loans from banks in a hassle-free manner by digitally sharing financial data across institutions.
What is an Account Aggregator?
An Account Aggregator (AA) is a type of RBI regulated entity (with an NBFC-AA license) that helps an individual securely and digitally access and share information from one financial institution they have an account with to any other regulated financial institution in the AA network. Data cannot be shared without the consent of the individual. There will be many Account Aggregators an individual can choose between. Account Aggregator replaces the long terms and conditions form of ‘blank cheque’ acceptance with a granular, step by step permission and control for each use of your data.
The Account Aggregator system can make lending and wealth management a lot faster and cheaper.
Eight banks that have joined AA network
The individual’s bank just needs to join the Account Aggregator network. Eight banks already have are- Axis, ICICI, HDFC, IndusInd Bank, State Bank of India, Kotak Mahindra Bank, IDFC First Bank, and Federal Bank.
How will the new Account Aggregator network improve an average person’s financial life?
India’s financial system involves many hassles for consumers today — sharing physical signed and scanned copies of bank statements, running around to notarise or stamp documents, or having to share your personal username and password to give your financial history to a third party. The Account Aggregator network would replace all these with a simple, mobile-based, simple, and safe digital data access & sharing process. This will create opportunities for new kinds of services — eg new types of loans.
Account aggregators that have received approval
Some of the account aggregators that have received approval from the RBI include CAMSFinServ, Cookiejar Technologies Pvt Ltd, FinSec AA Solutions Pvt Ltd and NSEL Asset Data Ltd, among others.
Can a consumer decide they don’t want to share data?
Yes. Registering with an AA is fully voluntary for consumers. If the bank the consumer is using has joined the network, a person can choose to register on an AA, choose which accounts they want to link, and share their data from one of their accounts for some specific purpose to a new lender or financial institution at the stage of giving ‘consent’ via one of the Account Aggregators. A customer can reject the consent to share a request at any time. If a consumer has accepted to share data in a recurring manner over a period (eg during a loan period), it can also be revoked at any time later as well by the consumer.
How can a customer get registered with an AA?
You can register with an AA through their app or website. AA will provide a handle (like username) that can be used during the consent process.
Today, four apps are available for download (Finvu, OneMoney, CAMS Finserv, and NADL) with operational licenses to be AAs. Three more have received in-principle approval from RBI (PhonePe, Yodlee, and Perfios) and maybe launching apps soon.
What new services can customers access if their bank has joined the AA network of data sharing?
The two key services that will be improved for an individual is access to loans and access money management.
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