Need to get open banking right to deliver for customers

It’s important to get it right for customers, says the New Zealand Bankers’ Association in response to the government’s announcement today about open data for banking.

New Zealand Bankers’ Association chief executive Roger Beaumont says: “The consumer data right will help make open data sharing a reality for banking and other sectors. It’s important to make sure we get it right for consumers. Because of the weight of other regulation and compliance falling on banks at the moment, such as the new conduct regime and increased capital requirements, along with staffing and other supply chain constraints, we’ve told the government that banks need time to enable quality products that will excite New Zealand consumers. This will take some time to implement.

“Getting CDR right will involve ironing out a lot of detail, for example ensuring customer privacy and data security when third parties access their information.

“There may also be lessons from other countries the government could take into account as it develops the legal framework, especially around the need to align CDR with other regulation to make it as easy as possible for participants to implement.

“In the meantime, the government may wish to consider investing in a public awareness campaign about CDR. Our research shows that around two thirds of New Zealanders think sharing your banking information with third parties to access other financial services is either a bad idea or they don’t understand it.

“We look forward to working through the detail on the proposed consumer data right.”

ENDS