BOSTON, MA, February 2, 2023 - Akoya appreciates the opportunity to comment on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Outline of Proposals and Alternatives Under Consideration for Required Rulemaking on Personal Financial Data Rights. Akoya’s response outlines proposals and alternatives to better inform consumers and secure their financial information.

Akoya’s letter applauds the efforts to date of the CFPB with respect to implementation of Section 1033 and states “that a final rule on Section 1033 will significantly advance open banking in the United States if it is consistent with the principles and coordinated with other federal financial services regulators to avoid conflicting regulatory positions.” 

The CFPB’s proposed rules, released in October 2022, set out to “move away from an industry dominated by incumbents toward a more decentralized market through this financial data rulemaking” and “improve security around personal finance, and increase and incentivize account switching.” 

Akoya detailed four recommendations: (1) prohibit screen scraping; (2) require that data recipients enable consumers to monitor access to their data on an ongoing basis and provide a means for consumers to revoke access to their data at any time; (3) require that data recipients obtain explicit and informed consent from consumers to access their data and limit data recipients’ access only to data necessary to the service they are providing unless consumers have provided specific consent to access additional data; and (4) Section 1033 should cover all data providers that hold consumer account information and not only the defined financial institutions.

Anil Mahalaha, Akoya’s Chief Evangelist and signatory of the letter stated “A thoughtful 1033 rule will ensure that consumers have access to their financial information in a seamless manner with due regard to data privacy and security considerations while fostering the growth of open banking in a safe and sound manner. We look forward to sharing our views with the CFPB as it works through this important rulemaking process so that the agency may benefit from our experiences at the center of the open banking movement.”

About Akoya 

The Akoya Data Access Network is simplifying data access for open finance. Through a single integration with Akoya, financial institutions, fintechs, and data aggregators can enable multiple API connections and avoid continued maintenance and development efforts. Akoya handles all data-sharing relationships on behalf of network participants and removes the myriad of internal and external costs required to develop and manage multiple third-party agreements. Akoya optimizes for security, transparency, and scalability, and offers a passthrough model that does not copy, store, or hold any financial data or personal information. The network is an interoperable solution available to the entire financial services industry. To learn more about how Akoya keeps consumer financial data safe, visit https://akoya.com/consumers.  

Media Contact: Olivia Fahey, Olivia@akoya.com