The account aggregator ecosystem is set to get a major boost with the public sector banks gearing up to join the platform.
A number of public sector banks are understood to be in various phases of testing and implementation and at least a few are expected to go live on the AA platform by the month end.
“Public sector banks are working in earnest towards joining the account aggregator framework and a few of them are expected to go live by July end,” said BG Mahesh, co founder and CEO, Sahamati.
State Bank of India, Canara Bank, Punjab National Bank and Indian Bank are some of the PSBs that have started their implementation, Mahesh further said.
According to data with Sahamati — an industry alliance formed to promote and strengthen the AA ecosystem in India — a number of private sector lenders including HDFC Bank, Axis Bank and Federal Bank are already live on the platform along with State-owned Union Bank of India. In all, 54 FIUs and FIPs are live on the AA platform.
Meanwhile, other public sector lenders such as State Bank of India and Indian Bank are in the testing phase on the AA platform; while others like Indian Overseas Bank, Punjab and Sind Bank, Bank of Baroda and Bank of Maharashtra are in the development phase.
What is AA system
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had recently instructed public sector banks to onboard on the AA system by end of July. Players believe that the AA ecosystem will also benefit with PSBs joining the platform.
“Private sector banks are already live. What is needed is for the large public sector banks to join in as well as it will make financial data of a customer much more comprehensive. This will also give a boost to the AA system,” said a player who is already registered on the AA framework.
An AA is a consent manager for financial data. They are NBFCs licensed by the RBI to collect data from, FIPs that hold an individual’s personal financial data like banks, and share the data with, FIUs that provide financial services to the individual.
Over 8.19 lakh accounts have been linked and 7.61 lakh consent requests made on the AA platform, since it was launched in September 2021.