Data Protection: Open Banking, GDPR & What It All Means
If you aren’t in the tech world, it is likely that you’ve never heard of Cloud Expo, but for our tech team it’s a bit like the Ideal Home Show. There are some really cool products and services on display and it’s a great opportunity to meet new companies and exchange knowledge. I spent last Wednesday at the expo — specifically the Fintech, Finance & Banking Technology area, presented by FINTECH Circle — and I wanted to take this chance to share some of what I learned there.
In addition to checking out some great exhibitors (and their expo stand baristas!), I also had the opportunity to be part of a really interesting FINTECH Circle panel along with Peter Lancos and Sonal Rattan (CEO & CTO of Exate Technologies), discussing open banking and data protection. Led by moderator Nicolas Steiner (Digital Ecosystem Director, FINTECH Circle Innovate), we were able to touch on and debate several interesting topics at the heart of financial technology. One major point concerned how incoming initiatives, such as open banking, create both obstacles and opportunities for businesses such as Bean.
As a company at the centre of this world, we are really excited about these advancements, not only because they open new frontiers for us to create amazing products, but because they ensure everyone acts responsibly towards information, such as customer data. However, as with any step forward, there will be considerations that need to be addressed. In particular, open banking creates significant questions around data security and ownership, a highly debated topic within the industry That being said, there are already steps being taken to regulate how companies use data, such as the upcoming GDPR legislation.
What is GDPR? The General Data Protection Regulation is basically an add-on to the Data Protection Act. It would bring accountability and governance to the use of personal data by corporations. If you would like to see the full list of requirements and proposed principles, check out the overview, here, but, in short, the GDPR aims to put the consumer back in control of their own personal data and who has access to it. The stringent new guidelines would see corporations fined up to 4% of global revenue for any data mistreatment and/or failing to show their active steps taken to protect their users’ information.
That focus is exactly why we at Bean support it; we agree that you should have complete confidence in how your information is being used. GDPR, along with the regulatory oversight created by Open Banking, will help ensure security will be uniformly enforced across businesses dealing with your financial data.
That being said, it’s not as easy as flipping a switch and we’ve got a way to go before we can all agree on what needs to be implemented. These initiatives are highly complex and, unfortunately, vulnerable to manipulation by large corporations (with even larger budgets) who lobby to protect their interests, rather than consumers. It may be a long road but we here at Bean will continue to put the user first and keep you in the loop regarding any developments we think will help you make informed financial decisions.
If you have a question about GDPR, data protection or anything else, get in touch and we’ll do our best to answer. Leave a comment below or tweet us at @usebean. For more helpful information make sure to check out the rest of our blog and sign up to the waitlist at usebean.com today.
