ACCC names its open banking testers

A group of ten fintech companies and start-ups have been chosen to test the open banking component of Australia’s consumer data right in the lead up to its launch in February 2020.

Australia’s consumer watchdog advised the companies of their selection on Wednesday, a month after it went looking for organisations to help test the new data portability rules.

The successful applicants are 86 400, Frollo, Identitii, Procure Build, Quicka, Regional Australia Bank, Verifier Australia, Wildcard Money, Intuit and Moneytree.

The CDR aims to provide individuals with their banking, energy and telco data to help them compare offers, access cheaper products and switch to new services.

The scheme finally received legislative backing by parliament in August after the bill lapsed when parliament was dissolved in April ahead of the federal election.

While the phased implementation of open banking began in July, consumer data for mortgage accounts, credit and debit cards and deposit and transaction account, wont be available until February 2020.

In an email to the successful applicants, the Australian Competition and Consumer Watchdog (ACCC) said it had received 40 expressions of interest to take part in testing slated for next month.

The ACCC said the expression of interest were considered in terms of an entity’s intention and ability to meet the accreditation criteria by February 2020, readiness to participate in testing and proposed use cases.

“Our intention is that participants in testing will be ready to participate in the CDR ecosystem from February 2020 following successful progression through testing, demonstrating their ongoing capability to meet eligibility criteria and comply with the Rules, the ACCC said.

“Participation in the CDR ecosystem from February 2020 as an accredited person of course requires the person to achieve accreditation under the Rules.”

The ACCC has also release the draft accreditation guidelines, as well as supplementary guidelines for insurance and information security

“The accreditation guidelines are designed to provide information and guidance to assist applicants with lodging a valid application to become an accredited data recipient,” the ACCC said.