One of the major benefits of the combination of digital technologies is access to meaningful data from different sources that can be brought together in a single place for improved effectiveness. Even in the modern era of financial services, cutting-edge advancements and technologies that have been launched have brought forth a major shift in the overall consumer expectations -especially with respect to security, safety, and speed. This type of diverse consumer expectations has given rise to the concept of AA or Account Aggregator.
In the modern era, as the world continues struggling with consent and data privacy of consumers, the use of account aggregator helps in allowing both businesses as well as individuals to share their data in some digital form with third parties -more safely than before. To top it all, this platform for storing data will offer users in-depth idea as well as control over how their data is going to be utilized -including their dedicated rights to revoke the consent at any given moment.
Account aggregator can be regarded as one of the latest forms of NBFCs or Non-banking Financial Companies out there.
Understanding Anumati and Its Account Aggregator
Anumati is a leading brand offered and owned by Perfios Account Aggregation Services Pvt. Ltd. and licensed by the Reserve Bank of India. It functions on the set of platforms or solutions that are made available by the government for both private as well as public infrastructures. These infrastructures can leverage the platform as the baseline infrastructure upon they are able to innovate. This helps them in saving both time and money. In turn, it also helps in the creation of an open ecosystem wherein both private as well as public infrastructures can collaborate, innovate, and coordinate.
Some of the coherent layers of the framework are:
- Presence-less Layer: It is primarily implemented with the help of the Aadhar infrastructure. It can be utilized as the universal digital biometric identifier through which customers are able to access the respective services.
- Paperless Layer: This layer is implemented with the help of e-sign, Aadhar e-KYC, and so more. In turn, it helps in digitizing records and eliminating the need for data storage.
- Cashless Layer: It is implemented with the help of UPI and IMPS technologies. It serves to be a single interface that helps in connecting the wallets and bank accounts of customers to equalize the available payments.
- Consent Layer: It is implemented with the help of the DEPA or Data Empowerment and Protection Architecture. It allows individuals to ensure control over the existing data while offering ample visibility on how data should be used, shared, and stored.
How Account Aggregator Serve the Role of Consent Managers in India?
According to the RBI account aggregator guidelines, the account aggregator were created to serve as the viable solution towards addressing the common challenges imposed by the generation of data. It is achieved by allowing data-sharing amongst financial domains with the help of customer consent only. The main objective is to offer a dedicated method through which customers are able to either consent or not consent to a particular financial service provider to access personal data in possession with other parties.
With respect to this, the financial providers are significantly interested in this approach. It is because information shared by customers -like their bank statements, will assist them in understanding customer-based risk profiles in an effective manner.
The primary aim behind the generation of consent-based data sharing is to help the poorer domain of customers qualify for a broader and better range of financial services and products while receiving them in better terms as per the requirement. However, the AAs are restricted from going through, storing, interpreting, or utilizing customer-specific data. Account Aggregator only serve the role of consent managers who are known to be impartial and trusted intermediaries between the providers of data and end users.
Importance of Account Aggregator in Influencing the Financial Landscape in India
As AA frameworks are becoming more common in the digital era, the financial landscape is expected to change significantly in the following ways:
#Best Practices for Privacy and Security
The framework of account aggregator define strict rules with respect to data privacy, data access, and the overall security. Therefore, any organization that takes part in AAs are expected to follow the inherent guidelines for ensuring reliable data sharing.
Account aggregator helps in encouraging organizations to follow the RBI guidelines on account aggregator for standardized security practices -including explicit consent, encryption, and data masking from users before their data gets accessed.
#Standardized Financial Information
Once the implementation of the AA architecture takes place, it assists in standardizing financial information across the entire financial landscape. Eventually, when different organizations will be storing the data in different formats, it is not possible to share data easily.
Storing and sharing data in the same structure make it quicker and easier to transfer sensitive information while generating underwriting algorithms or some other mechanism.
#Safe Storage and Sharing of Data
With dedicated AA policies, organizations are expected to follow stricter privacy and security policies for sharing data. It will imply no more exceptional ways to store, maintain, and share data. One of the most significant highlights is that AAs helps in eliminating the risk of leaking financial data at the time of sharing or printing.
#Improved Trusts
Implementation of Account Aggregator will help organizations in building more trust with the end customers. Initially, as organizations will make explicit consent of customers, end consumers will verify what information the organization is asking for.
Eventually, through the implementation of AA policies, there will be the establishment of a higher level of security and trust while sharing sensitive financial data.
Conclusion
These are indeed interesting times on financial grounds -not just with India, but the entire world. Account aggregator have been successfully implemented across different nations for empowering consumers to take control of the respective financial data.