Fintechs often complain quietly, lest they cop blowback, than one of the things that’s slowing the roll out of the Consumer Data Right (CDR), aka Open Banking, is that the major banks are dragging their feet.
Well, the competition watchdog thinks so too, and National Australia Bank (NAB) has copped $751,200 in penalties after the ACCC issued four infringement notices for alleged contraventions of the CDR rules.
The regulator says there were alleged failures by NAB to disclose, or accurately disclose, credit limit data in response to four separate requests made by different CDR accredited providers on behalf of consumers.
It’s not the first time a bank has been pinged. In 2022, the Bank of Queensland was handed a $133,200 fine for failing to share customer details under the CDR. NAB’s penalty is the highest so far.
Next month marks five years since CDR began in Australia. On the 4th anniversary, industry lobby group the Australian Banking Association (ABA) had a massive whinge about CDR’s cost as its members booked a combined $32.5 billion in profits.
A few weeks later, the former assistant treasurer, Stephen Jones, who left politics at last month’s election, announced plans to reboot for CDR amid a consensus view that it had so far failed to live up to its promise.
CDR began in Australia in July 2020 as “open banking”, allowing consumers to consent for their data from banking to be used and analysed to help the better manage their finances and find better deals. It expanded to energy in 2022 and the non-bank lending sector is set to join in around mid-2026.
ACCC Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe said in relation to the penalties handed to NAB that for CDR to be effective it’s critical that the data consumers consent to share is accurate, up-to-date, complete and in the required format.
“Poor data quality prevents consumers from experiencing the full benefits of the CDR. When banks or energy retailers don’t provide accurate data, consumers can’t take advantage of CDR products and services to compare products, find better deals, manage their finances or make informed decisions about product switching,” she said
In the NAB case, there was a failure to provide accurate information on credit card limits, which impacted how a number of fintechs tried to assist people using CDR, including some fintechs who offer mortgage broking tools.
The ACCC says NAB cooperated with its investigation and has rectified the data quality issues identified.
The ACCC is co-regulator, alongside the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, of CDR.
In the second half of 2024, CDR participants reported to the ACCC that more than 530,000 consumers successfully used CDR products and services across the banking and energy sectors, representing an increase of 135% from the previous six months. Over that period, approximately 582 million consumer data requests were made.
A list of providers available on the CDR site.
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