Vass Bednar: If open banking is for consumers, why are they missing from the discussion?
. In the advisory committee’s final report, members wrote that the tactic of screen scraping used by these programs “presents real security and liability risks to Canadians as it requires them to share their banking login credentials with third party providers.” Again, the best interests of consumers are consistently under-represented.Article content
But consumers who have joined the frontier of digital finance aren’t protected by a regulatory regime designed to safeguard their interests and their data, which is essential to building trust. That is the role of theunder the direction of Tachjian. Unsurprisingly, incumbent financial industry players are well represented.
This lack of representation could ultimately undermine the whole initiative. If consumers are not engaged in the development of the system, then the uptake of the initiative could be low, which would lend credence to the arguments of those who have opposed the creation of an open banking regime by inferring that there is a lack of interest.Article content
In fact, a lack of broad engagement with the public and championing of open banking all but guarantees that people will be surprised or confused when the process concludes, as they will not be properly primed to take advantage of the initiative’s benefits. This would be a costly mistake. These discussions are important from another perspective: to engage with consumers on what they expect in terms of data mobility, including privacy and security. The implications go well beyond open banking. What is decided in these deliberations has the potential to reshape how data is controlled, used and regulated across the economy. It is thus even more important for consumers to be at the table.