Westpac accredited as data recipient under consumer data right

Westpac has become the third ‘big four’ bank to become an accredited data recipient under the federal government's consumer data right (CDR) scheme.

The bank was accredited by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) on Thursday, leaving ANZ as the only major bank yet to receive sign-off.

Westpac joins 19 other accredited data recipients (ADRs), including NAB and Beyond Bank which both received accreditation last month.

However, only seven ADR’s are ‘active’: the Commonwealth Bank, Regional Australia Bank, credit bureau illion, software developer Intuit and fintech’s Frollo and Adatree.

As an ADR, Westpac will be able to receive a consumer’s data from an accredited data holder and use it to provide an enhanced product or service.

Westpac’s CEO for consumer and business banking Chris de Bruin welcomed the accreditation, and said the bank supports the increased competition and innovation that open banking brings.

“We are pleased the ACCC has approved Westpac as an ADR under the CDR,” he said, adding that the bank had worked alongside the federal government and regulators as the CDR has evolved.

He added that Westpac will “continue to focus on ensuring our customers understand how they can benefit from open banking as we develop use cases that customers can leverage”.

Westpac’s accreditation comes just days after the government changed the CDR rules to allow ADR’s to sponsor businesses wanting to ingest data from next year.

The additional pathways of accreditation are intended to encourage greater participation in the scheme after the former model was criticised as being costly and laborious.