RBI’s Account Aggregator Will Bolster Indian Fintech: Sequoia India Head

Sequoia Capital managing director, Rajan Anandan, on December 16, said that the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) account aggregator framework, Sahamati, will provide a plethora of opportunities to Indian fintechs.

Talking at Times Network’s India Economic Conclave in Mumbai, Anandan said that Unified Payment Interface (UPI) has democratised digital payments and provided a space for the fintech startups to grow, but the RBI’s Sahamati will provide 10 times the opportunities.

Launched in July 2015, Sahamati focuses on account fintech data and addressing the friction in accessing this data. Sahamati is a digital platform that will help individuals and small businesses to share their financial data with third parties, who usually leverage from customer data. The platform wants to lead the transition from ‘data rich society’ to an ‘economic rich society’

The platform plans to achieve the transition by providing greater visibility and control to the users over their data. The platform will give the users the power to choose who they share their data with and for the purpose it is used for.

“An individual’s or enterprise’s data is spread across silos and islands in banks, telcos, healthcare institutions with no framework in place for them to aggregate and share with their benefactors. This aggregated data can provide a full view of an individual/entity’s data and is essential to help build better products for the individual/entity,” Sahamati’s website highlights.

Sahamati or DigiSahamati Foundation has been set up as a not for profit private limited company. The platform is supported by RBI and other Financial Service Regulator (FSR). The platform will be an aggregator of all the customers detail and provide that information to customers and Financial Information User (FIU), as long as the user has given their electronic/ digital consent.

“An AA is ‘data-blind’ as the data that flows through an AA is encrypted and can be processed only by the FIU for whom the data is intended. Also, an AA does not and cannot store any user’s data – thus, the potential for leakage and misuse of user’s data is prevented,” the platform reads.

With the rise of digital economy, any kind of customer data has become very valuable. Private companies use their data to expand their services.

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