CRIF Connect gets RBI’s approval to operate as account aggregator

Credit and finance for MSMEs: CRIF Connect, a subsidiary of credit bureau company CRIF S.p.A on Thursday announced it has received approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to begin operations as a Non-Banking Financial Company- Account Aggregator (NBFC-AA). CRIF Connect joins FinSec AA Solutions, Yodlee Finsoft, CAMSFinServe, NESL Asset Data, Cookiejar Technologies and Perfios Account Aggregation Services licensed to operate as AAs in India. CRIF Connect is an encrypted platform that shares consent-based financial data of consumers with financial institutions. 

“The Account Aggregator framework puts the customer in the centre of the ecosystem, giving them control of secured and hassle-free data sharing. It is a game-changer for increasing digital adoption, financial inclusion and providing financial services with higher operational efficiencies,” said Wilfred Sigler, Senior Director – CRIF India and South Asia in a statement. 

Also read: It will give another level of comfort to MSME lenders: Experts on GST data access via account aggregators

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Through the CRIF Connect App, users can view their financial data in one place and choose information to share with the financial institution and make changes to their consent to even deny or revoke any time. 

Following the central bank’s directions back in 2016 on AAs, revised in 2021, the AA network was introduced as a financial data-sharing system to facilitate credit and investment, giving consumers access and control over their financial records and expanding the potential pool of users for financial sector entities and fintech companies. 

As of December 12, 2022, 94 financial institutions were onboard the AA platform as Financial Information Users (FIU), while 26 financial institutions were onboard as Financial Information Providers (FIP), of which 12 were public sector banks, 10 were private banks, one small finance bank and three life insurance companies.

Also read: Account aggregator framework: MSMEs want value-added services in return for sharing data, says survey 

The consent-based information with respect to MSME or other business users collected relates to their bank or NBFC deposits, SIPs, government securities, equity shares, bonds, mutual funds, insurance policies, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), debentures, etc. In November last year, RBI had included the Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) as the latest FIP) to enable information on GST Returns, viz. form GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B available. Other FIPs are banks, NBFCs, asset management companies, depositories, insurance companies, pension funds, etc., providing related information to AAs. 

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