November 03, 2020
Axis Bank, the third-largest private sector bank in India, has gone live as a Financial Information Provider (FIP) on the landmark Account Aggregator (AA) framework of the Reserve Bank of India. Account Aggregator is a digital platform that allows for easy sharing and consumption of financial data of customers from various regulated entities, with consent of the customers.
The Account aggregator ecosystem brings value to both customers and the financial institutions:
- Customers (Individuals and SMEs) can share their data with regulated financial entities securely and in real-time (based on their explicit consent), compared to traditional methods that involved physical touch-points and were time consuming.
- They can also get a single view of their financial position by aggregating data that is spread across multiple financial institutes, thereby providing better control and smarter decision making.
- The financial institutions will be able to offer tailor-made Digital products and services for customers, based on the data fetched from various financial institutions.
- The control of data with end-user will also enable faster, smoother and more accurate on-boarding and underwriting. The reduced TAT (turnaround time) and accuracy of data will bring in operational and cost-related efficiencies for the financial institutions
Commenting on this development, Sameer Shetty, EVP & Head Digital Banking, Axis Bank said: “We are excited to be one of the early adopters of the Account Aggregator ecosystem and strongly believe that this will transform banking in the years to come. Democratization of data in the hands of the end-user opens up several possibilities for financial institutions like us to create a suite of innovative Digital offerings for customers. As a governing council member, Axis bank has worked closely with Sahamati, as the ecosystem evolved since its inception.”
BG Mahesh, Co-Founder of DigiSahamati Foundation, a Collective of the Account Aggregator Ecosystem, said: "The support of a large institution such as Axis Bank for Account Aggregator Framework is a massive boost for the open banking movement in India and has a wide-ranging influence on the proliferation of financial services in the country.”
