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Latest events and updates about Account Aggregator ecosystem
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33.74 million Consent requests fulfilled
| 35.75 million Accounts linked on AA | |
480+ FIs Actively engaged in AA adoption
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378 FIs Live on AA | |
141 FIPs
Live on AA | 75 FIPs Available on 4 or more AAs
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303 FIs 17 TSPs Sahamati Certification Framework | 158 Signatories AA Participation Terms | |
1,236 UAT 546 Prod Entries in AA Registry
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18,500+ Grievances handled
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11,300+
Grievances resolved | 245+ FI Dashboards disseminated
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Seasons greetings to one and all. May the festivities bring growth, prosperity and abundance to all the participants of the AA ecosystem. In a recent event held in New Delhi, Finance Minister Smt Nirmala Sitharaman reiterated that the AA framework is designed for privacy and security. The AA is data-blind, and the customer data shared via this framework will be used only for the specific purpose mentioned. This summarises the spirit behind the AA Framework, which is completely customer-centric and designed to ensure that consumer data is secure and is shared in a consent, privacy-preserving manner via the AAs The vision of the policymakers and the regulators is a healthy scale-up of the AA Ecosystem. The National Housing Bank released an advisory on November 28, 2023, asking all housing finance companies to join the AA ecosystem and take advantage of the framework. Currently, 30% of the HFCs have integrated AA APIs. The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), via its circular dated November 22, 2023, has restricted the usage of AA as a Financial Information User only to include the regulated Point of Presence (POP) entities. Central record-keeping agencies (CRA) will remain financial information providers in the AA ecosystem. This circular has impacted the PFRDA-regulated Retirement Advisors that had implemented the AA framework. At approximately 18% month-on-month hike, the consent raised and fulfilled has been consistent over the last few months. As stability increases in the coming months, the AA community is geared to set participatory guidelines that will enable seamless ecosystem growth. The 3 committees initiated by Sahamati in October 2023 have made significant progress in November. The ecosystem stakeholders are working collaboratively to create implementable and pertinent steps, which will be available in the coming weeks. An important technical update on additional identifiers in the AA schema has been released by ReBIT. This will help increase discoverability and privacy. Also, introducing two separate schemas for Life and General insurance should witness the FIUs’ greater uptake of insurance data. As the calendar year draws to a close and we plan for the new resolutions, the 550+ ecosystem participants stay committed to creating value for the customers and working undeterred towards greater growth and adoption of the framework. |
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Additional Identifiers (PAN and DOB)
According to the ReBIT circular published on Nov 8, 2023, Account Aggregators (AAs) and Financial Information Providers (FIPs) can utilize identifiers—such as Permanent Account Number (PAN) and Date of Birth (DOB) for Account Discovery—in addition to a mandatory strong identifier (mobile number) for account discovery. The key compliance requirements include prioritizing sequence: strong identifier (mobile number), PAN, and DOB; logging in masked PAN and DOB; limiting their use exclusively for account discovery; and ensuring non-storage post-discovery.
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Insurance Schema Update
On October 26, 2023, Reserve Bank Information Technology Pvt Ltd (ReBIT) unveiled two distinct schemas for insurance data within the AA framework, delineating between Life Insurance and General Insurance. This updated schema introduces revisions to the fields encompassing three data types– Profile, Summary, and Transaction. These modifications mark a pivotal transformation in the data framework for the insurance sector, influencing data processing, risk assessment, and product positioning within the industry.
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PFRDA allows only Point of Presence entities to participate in AA ecosystem
The Pension Fund Regulatory & Development Authority (PFRDA) has exclusively authorized Points of Presence (POPs) to function as Financial Information Users (FIUs) in the Account Aggregator (AA) ecosystem. The PFRDA/2023/32/REG-POP/07 circular prohibits other intermediaries within the PFRDA’s jurisdiction from participating as FIUs in the AA ecosystem. Notably, this decision impacts intermediaries under the PFRDA, like retirement advisors (RAs), who have been early adopters of the framework.
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Data Governance and Transperancy
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Governing Council (GC) Meeting
Sahamati Governing Council (GC) convened on 22nd November 2023 to discuss key central themes for the Account Aggregator (AA) ecosystem. The agenda of the meeting was an update on the scale of AA adoption across consumers and network participants. The GC also discussed the impact of participatory governance mechanisms such as councils and committees for the AA Ecosystem. Furthermore, the discussion delved into themes pertinent for the next phase of ramp up for the AA ecosystem across the country.
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Data Governance and Transperancy
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Committee Meetings
In line with the participatory governance ethos of the network, Sahamati has facilitated the ecosystem to convene through various councils and committees to deliberate on pertinent themes. The GC Committees for Interoperability, Economic Model for the Ecosystem, and Fair Use convened for the second meeting in Mumbai this month. Use case councils have been established for Lending and Personal Finance Management (PFM). The PFM council is deliberating on a decision on the outer bounds of data fetch frequency for PFM templates. An Insurance use case council is on the cards.
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Data Governance and Transperancy
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AA
Community Guidelines
In the last month, the lending use case council deliberated on the need to obtain separate consents for loan underwriting and loan monitoring post-approval. This discussion led to finalising Community Guideline PC004, commenting on whether multiple financial services or processes can be tied to one purpose and one consent artefact. We have added an illustration on consents for Loan Underwriting and Monitoring to enhance clarity on the need for two separate consents, as there are distinct purposes in each use case. Check out the community guidelines from the link below!
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AA adoption across all 4 FSRs
The distinctive characteristic of the Account Aggregator (AA) ecosystem lies in its cross-sectoral nature, as it sees adoption by financial institutions under all four financial sector regulators (FSRs) as well as institutions under the Department of Revenue (DoR), Ministry of Finance (MoF). This broad participation enhances the value proposition for both consumers and businesses alike. Presently, the network boasts of 141 active Financial Information Providers (FIPs) and 320 Financial Information Users (FIUs). The accompanying image visually represents the distribution of these network participants across the regulatory spectrum.
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Support Portal Enhancement
The Support Portal is a one-of-a-kind cross-sectoral grievance redressal mechanism designed for live entities in the AA ecosystem. It has achieved a 60% resolution on over 18,000 tickets raised, with major institutions exceeding a 95% success rate. Additionally, dedicated support teams have proactively tackled data quality issues and implemented effective changes. Sahamati has introduced a novel feature on the portal that empowers TSPs to respond to tickets raised against FIPs in real-time, streamlining grievance redressal. To know more, write to the support team at support@sahamati.org.in.
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Advocacy and Collaboration
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Pragati with ARIA
Pragati for November 2023 was held with the Association of Registered Investment Advisors (ARIA) and crafted for the India advisory space. The session delved into the role of AAs in providing real-time, end-to-end encrypted data flows that address the low penetration of advisory services in India. With the rise in discretionary spending, the demand for advisory services is poised to boom. As the SEBI Chairperson Ms. Madhabi Puri Buch had recently quoted the need for one million registered investment advisors (RIA), AAs open up the possibility of streamlining workflows for RIAs and bringing down entry barriers.
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International Advocacy and Collaboration
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Cambridge COBOF Course
The Cambridge Open Banking & Finance for Regulators (COBOF) Online Programme is set to start this November. The Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) at the University of Cambridge Judge Business School created this course for regulators, policymakers, and industry professionals around the world. Sahamati and the Centre for Digital Public Infrastructure (CDPI) have collaborated to teach the final and concluding module of the course. This foray into educating international audiences through a formal channel symbolizes the growing acclaim for India’s approach of ushering in open finance through Account Aggregators (AAs).
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