FinTech Australia finds open banking use cases rise

FinTech Australia has identified growth in Open Banking use cases in Australia across lending, credit, and broking, as well as personal finance and payments.

Rehan D'Almeida, CEO at FinTech Australia

The industry body released its findings in the fourth edition of the Australian Open Banking Ecosystem Map and Report and is backed by Mastercard and launched in partnership with FinTech NZ, Payments NZ and Open Finance ANZ.

Currently, being rolled out in stages, the CDR is now in the adoption phase which allows individuals and organisations greater control over their data, allowing them to share their information with authorised third parties. 

Gathered data from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) provider register detailed how there are now 135 ‘CDR representatives’, 165 percent from December 2022, with 96 data holders now active participants.

A CDR representative is an entity that acts under the authority of a fully accredited organisation, also known as a ‘CDR principal’.

The report found almost all consumer bank accounts (99.74 percent) are now connected to the ecosystem, enabling further adoption of open banking technologies.

“Currently, 64 percent of the ecosystem consists of data recipients, organisations that can receive consumer data once consent has been provided.

These recipients are responsible for the creation of data use cases and promoting customer adoption,” FinTech Australia said in a statement.

The report said 89 percent of these data recipients use third-party intermediaries (including Outsourced Service Providers or 'OSPs') to access data via the CDR register, displaying the important role specialist providers play in pushing CDR participation.

There was also an uptick in use cases from a diverse range of industries such as climate and sustainability, health, philanthropy and hospitality.

Rehan D'Almeida, CEO of FinTech Australia said “With use cases starting to emerge, the challenge now is to encourage the capture and sharing of data on uptake and usage in order to quantify the impact of the CDR.”

“Current cost of living challenges and higher interest rates make it more important than ever for us to see CDR enabled products in the hands of consumers at scale; helping them manage their finances, getting a better deal and saving them money.

“We expect the next 12 months will be a period of innovation and uptake as the ecosystem matures, with fintechs continuing to lead the way," D'Almeida said.

Brenton Charnley, vice president and head of open banking, Australasia at Mastercard added, “Mastercard’s open banking technology allows consumers to use their financial data for their own benefit to access innovative, new and improved experiences.

The next steps for FinTech Australia include partnering further with FinTech NZ and Payments NZ to expand the report to the Aotearoa New Zealand market and look into regional CDR adoption.

Join us at our first-ever Digital Nation Executive Meet-ups at The Ivy Sunroom in Sydney on Thursday, June 27th. Secure your spot today.