Allon Advocacy In the News
October 12, 2021
Ottawa Urged to Follow 'Game Plan' for Open Banking in Canada
After the Sept. 20 federal election, the non-profit Financial Data and Technology Association urged Ottawa to begin implementing [open banking] recommendations, which include appointing someone to lead the system's design so it's ready by January 2023.
August 5, 2021
Ottawa Unveils Long-Awaited Plan for Open Banking in Canada
"We now have a pretty detailed roadmap on how to proceed. It's actually unleashing innovation and competition for consumers, (which is) amazing," stated FDATA North America Executive Director Steve Boms.
July 9, 2021
Banking Merger Frenzy May Meet Early End After Biden Order
"We've been lagging behind many, many other developed countries. What this means is the era of open finance in the United States has begun in earnest - finally" stated FDATA North America Executive Director Steve Boms.
May 5, 2021
Fintech Startups Frustrated with Glacial Pace of Canada's Open Banking Consultations
"The longer we wait to get moving, the more the opportunity cost," said Steve Boms, executive director of the Financial Data and Technology Association (FDATA) of North America.
April 6, 2021
FDATA North America Welcomes Three New Members
FDATA North America Executive Director Steve Boms noted that open finance maximizes the potential of fintech to improve financial access and inclusion, and the new members will be important allies in this effort.
December 24, 2020
Banks, Fintech Firms Eyeing CFPB Proposal on Consumer Access to Financial Records
The CFPB is seeking input on potential regulations for consumer access to electronic financial records through an advance notice of proposed rulemaking. Banks and fintech firms are closely watching.
August 28, 2020
How CFPB Should Support Consumer Data Rights
The financial technology and data aggregation communities have long advocated for the CFPB to issue a rule under Section 1033, asserting this is the key first step toward an open finance framework under which a consumer or small business is in full control of their financial data.
June 23, 2020
Mastercard Acquires Finicity, an Open Banking and Data Fintech
Mastercard announced on Tuesday it has entered into an agreement to acquire Finicity, a real-time financial data and insights access provider providing open banking tools - an area of growing importance for financial services firms
March 30, 2020
In Face of COVID-19, FIntech Important Tool for Canadians
Technology can help by serving during times of hardship as the primary form of access to the financial services system for millions of individuals, families, and small businesses.
February 17, 2020
Canada Focus: 'Consumer-Directed Finance' and What it Means for Canadians
Last month, after more than nine months of consultations with a broad array of stakeholders, the Department of Finance Canada released a report on consumer-directed finance.
January 27, 2020
Industry-Led Groups Are Only the First Step to Open Banking
The era of open banking, where consumers and small businesses have full control of their financial data, may finally be upon us.
October 14, 2019
How Open Banking and Bank APIs Are Boosting Fintech Growth
Fintechs are making waves in the finance services and banking industries, and open banking will be a key factor propelling them to the forefront.
July 10, 2019
FDATA North America Adds Members
The Financial Data and Technology Association (FDATA) of North America today announced it added five new members in June, bringing the association's total membership to 22.
April 16, 2019
Yes, Canada, Open Banking is Working in Britain
Canada is considering a move toward open banking, a formalized system in which consumers are empowered to share their bank-held data with third-party providers (TRPs) to encourage competition and innovation. If the experience in Britain is a guide, this advance will transporm the country's economy and imp
February 4, 2019
Why the U.S. Needs Data-Sharing Rules
Steve Boms, executive director of the Financial Data and Technology Association, says standards should be developed for U.S. banks and fintechs to follow in open banking, to protect consumers.
December 2, 2018
Help NJ Families Tackle Household Debt
According to data compiled by Experian, New Jersey consumers have, on average, more credit cards in their pockets than the residents of any other state. Even more telling, the average New Jersey household has more than $7,150 in credit card debt, the fourth-highest rate in America.
October 9, 2018
For Canadian Consumers and Small Businesses, Open Banking is the Way Forward
The national budget passed by Parliament requires the Department of Finance to offer findings and recommendations for a move toward open banking. Lawmakers didn't set a deadline, but Finance Canada is already engaging with industry stakeholders to solicit input.
September 21, 2018
Fintech Lobby Group Opens North American Division
The Financial Data and Technology Association (FDATA), which played a pivotal role over the last five years in crafting the design and implementation of open banking standards in the United Kingdom and in Europe, announced today the launch of a North American arm, FDATA North America.
July 31, 2018
Treasury Calls for Sweeping Changes in Fintech, End to Payday Lending Rule
The Treasury Department recently released its blueprint for regulating financial technology, a sweeping document that could influence policy in the emerging industry for years to come.
July 17, 2018
In Data Dispute with Capital One, Plaid Stands Alone
Plaid Technologies' public effort to blame Capital One after a security upgrade blocked the data aggregator from accessing customer data appears to have backfired. Other data aggregators have distanced themselves from the protest, nothing they have been unaffected and even speaking out in defense of the bank.
April 18, 2018
Debt Settlement Plan: 5 Questions to Ask Before Resorting to This Option to Pay Off Bills
When your credit card bills are piling up and you've got little hope of ever paying them down, the option that comes with the most risk can feel like the only choice.
January 29, 2018
Banks, Businesses Aren't Ready for GDPR - But Consumers Are
While PSD2 was the subject of extensive focus for European banks, businesses, tech firms, and fintechs, these institutions may not be ready for another data initiative, the General Data Protection Regulation, set to come into effect this May. In fact, studies show that less than half of businesses in the U.K are even aware of GDPR, much less ready to comply.
November 29, 2017
Bottom Line
Yodlee, a financial data aggregator and technology company, hired Allon Advocacy to work on issues relating to consumer financial data, credit reporting, cybersecurity and government rules about fiduciary standards. The company is one of Allon Advocacy's first lobbying clients. The firm has also signed Freedom Financial Network, which offers loans and mortgages, in addition to debt settlement services.
June 9, 2017
The DOL's Fiduciary Rule is Here...But For How Long?
The June 9 initial applicability date of the DOL fiduciary rule is here, and advisors tell FA-IQ they're largely ready to comply with the requirements of acting in the best interest of their clients. But a law firm notes that many advisors have been asking exactly how to comply with the Impartial ICS, which are in place until the rule's full implementation on January 1, 2018.
March 27, 2017
Consumers Will Suffer Without Access to Their Data
The ability of Americans to see their total financial picture across multiple financial institutions and quickly access technology-based tools to analyze their financial data is no longer theoretical. The fintech industry provides this capability to millions of consumers.
January 24, 2017
New Fintech Group Wants Cybersecurity Rules Scaled to Risk
A new financial-technology industry group is drafting a letter to federal bank regulators urging them not to squash screen scraping by casting the net too widely in a proposed rule on cybersecurity.
November 22, 2016
How to Protect Consumer Rights in Battle Over Data Access
For those who believe passionately in the democratization of consumers' financial data, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's new interest in protecting third-party access to such data is a significant victory.
August 17, 2021
Will CFPB Take Cues from Canada in Writing Data-Sharing Rules?
The [US] CFPB plans to have a data-sharing rule in place by April 2022. But Canadian report observers have shed much more on what an open banking regime would look like than the Bureau's request for comment issued last fall, and could influence rulemaking in both countries.
August 4, 2021
Report Recommends New Open Banking Regime for Canada to Allow Customers to Share Data Between Institutions
A long-anticipated report from a federal advisory committee on open banking says Ottawa should aim to design, test, and launch an open banking system in 18 months.
June 24, 2021
What is Open Banking and Why Hasn't it Come to Canada Yet?
As Canada spins its wheels, other countries have already started implementing new regulations - and are seeing their fintech sectors expand, creating jobs in the process.
April 19, 2021
Budget Should Prioritize Open Banking in Canada
"If there is no movement this year in Canada on a regulatory framework, and no further commitments in the budget, large financial institutions will keep controlling the banking system, and opportunities will be lost," said FDATA North America's Steve Boms.
February 12, 2021
Why Data Aggregators Want to Be Regulated by CFPB
As the bureau writes data-sharing rules, the third-party firms that work with fintechs say oversight by the agency would be more efficient - and better for consumers - than being policed by their bank partners.
October 22, 2020
CFPB Weighs Setting Standards for Financial Data Access
The CFPB has taken its first step toward weighing in on a raging debate between upstart technology companies and banks over control of the financial data of millions of Americans.
August 4, 2020
BankThink Banks, Fintechs Must Reframe Data Privacy Debate
Financial services innovators are at risk of losing access to data that's critical to their businesses if Congress passes a proposed data privacy bill or one of several like it.
May 6, 2020
Corporate Innovation from Home: Consumer-directed Finance in the Age of COVID-19
A conversation about consumer and small business protection in the COVID-19 era and beyond with FDATA's Steve Boms and Fintech Growth Syndicate.
February 27, 2020
'Screen scraping is not evil': Bankers, fintechs, aggregators face off
The CFPB held a gathering this week of bankers, fintechs, consumer groups and others to tackle a key data-sharing issue facing the bureau, and the event provided an opportunity to have it out over a bone of contention.
February 7, 2020
Banks, Fintech Startups Clash Over 'the New Oil' - Your Data
Fintech companies argue that giving banks a tight grip over the flow of information will allow the big lenders to snuff out new competitors.
December 23, 2019
Is a New Data War About to Erupt?
Just when it looked like banks, fintechs and data aggregators had reached a truce over the sharing of coustomer data, a new spat is threatening to resurrect points of contention.
September 30, 2019
Data Aggregators Push Back Against Notion They Have a Fraud Problem
Data aggregators and fintechs have taken heat in recent days on the subject of cybersecurity - and they say the criticism is unfair.
June 29, 2019
Digital Charter Paves Way to Open Banking
In May, Navdeep Baines, the federal Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, announced a Digital Charter that presents 10 principles for modernizing the rules that govern digital technology in Canada.
March 20, 2019
FDATA Sets Out Canadian Open Banking Benefits
In advance of a Canada Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce hearing on March 21, the Financial Data and Technology Association today released a new paper, "Opportunities in Open Banking," that outlines the benefits of open banking for Canadian consumers, businesses, financial institutions and the economy.
January 4, 2019
Open Banking: The Bipartisan Issue of 2019
While the U.S. government hobbles from one crisis to the next - the partial shutdown is just the latest example - policymakers in several other countries are staking out long-term polsitions that embrace financial technology innovation for the benefit of their citizens.
November 29, 2018
Consumer in Control of Debt Settlement Process
The Tuesday op-ed "House bill would drive borrowers deeper into debt" by Kalitha Williams contains numerous inaccuracies and does a serious dis
September 24, 2018
FDATA Launches North American Arm
The Financial Data and Technology Association (FDATA) has launched its North American arm.
August 17, 2018
How Banks are Making it Easier to Use Fintech Apps
It's about as nerdy as it gets in fintech and digital banking. But the way you share your bank information with popular fintech apps is evolving - and it marks one of the most significant changes in how you manage your money digitally.
July 31, 2018
US Treasury Report Backs Open Banking, Fintech Charter, and Sandboxes
The US Treasury Department has called for a radical overhaul of financial technology regulation, backing a new national fintech charter, the introduction of sandboxes, and the opening of access to consumer data.
May 21, 2018
What is Open Banking?
The term "open banking" might conjure up an image of a bank branch decorated like a hip loft where the teller isn't behind bulletproof glass. There's also a good chance that "open banking" means nothing to you. However, it's something you should probably get to know because it could change the landscape of the financial services industry.
March 17, 2018
Is the Fiduciary Rule Dead or Alive? What Its Fate Means to You
A controversial rule requiring advisers to act in their clients' best interests when it comes to managing retirement accounts has been ferociously contested, and may soon be dead.
January 12, 2018
2018: The Bonus Year
Welcome to the bonus year. Independent annuity agents and the marketing organizations that serve them were against the proverbial wall, blindfolded and enjoying a last vape when the Department of Labor's (DOL) new secretary, Alexander Acosta, issued a fiduciary rule reprieve until mid-2019. Now, instead of exiting from the annuity market en masse, dazed agents and IMOs find themselves with a new lease on life.
October 20, 2017
A CFPB Policy Everybody Seems to Like (Really)
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's entrance into the battle between banks and fintechs over customer information appears to have done something remarkable by largely pleasing both sides.
May 26, 2017
What's #FinTech Talking
Host Brian Wesolowski sits down with Natasha and Vijay from our Privacy and Data team to shine a spotlight on the myriad ways states are taking privacy regulations into their own hands, after several moves in the opposite direction from Congress. Then Brian brings in Steve Boms, Vice President of Government Affairs at Envestnet | Yodlee, to discuss what's happening at the crossroads of finance and technology.
March 23, 2017
Banks and Tech Firms Battle Over Something Akin to Gold: Your Data
The big banks and Silicon Valley are waging an escalating battle over your personal financial data: your dinner bill last night, your monthly mortgage payment, the interest rates you pay.
January 21, 2017
Innovation Will Help Americans Improve Their Financial Health
In addition to a multitude of innovations, the Industrial Revolution was significantly impacted by the railroad. The Iron Horse allowed goods to travel in days across the American continent that would previously have required months, fueling the factories and workers in American cities that turned this nation into an economic powerhouse.
August 6, 2021
Open Banking, the 'Life Blood' of Fintech and New Bank Services, Is Set to Arrive in Canada by 2023
The [Advisory Committee report] recommendations land at a time when other countries have already blazed ahead, and Canadian fintechs say they are losing opportunities to innovate in the financial industry
July 12, 2021
What Biden's Data Portability Push Means for Banks
The [Executive] order urges the CFPB to commence a rulemaking under section 1033 to facilitate the portability of consumer financial transaction data so consumers can more easily switch financial institutions and use new, innovative financial products.
June 9, 2021
FDATA's Steve Boms Discusses Open Banking in the US and What Is Next
"Without open banking, consumers have no choice. They are entirely beholden to the financial institutions who control their data. In an open banking environment, consumers and small businesses have the right to use the service providers they choose."
April 8, 2021
Overregulating Fintech Will Harm Consumers
Fintech trading app Robinhood was at the center of the GameStop controversy that Congress is investigating. But a too-heated response from Congress could undermine access to affordable financial tools.
January 12, 2021
A CFPB Rule-Making Worth Keeping
The Biden administration can ensure the success of economic equality and financial inclusion by completing an initiative under the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: enacting regulations to implement Section 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
September 30, 2020
Fiserv Wants to Bring Open Banking, Payment Apps Downmarket
There's no PSD2-style law requiring banks in the US to share data with third-party payment apps, but the market is progressing as if there will be one, leaving some smaller banks at a disadvantage.
June 29, 2020
What Happens if Mastercard and Visa Gobble Up All the Data Aggregators?
If [Mastercard and Visa's] deals are approved by regulators, the largest card networks will own two of the largest US data aggregators, which are companies that collect and feed bank customer data into fintech apps.
April 1, 2020
Americans Must Be Able to Access Fintech
Approximately two-thirds of the U.S. population currently is being urged to stay home in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. With their mobility restricted, housebound families have turned to apps to get them through this unprecedented period.
February 24, 2020
Innovation Depends On a Washington Culture Shift
The pace of technological advancement between now and 2030 could be even more rapid than what we saw over the last decade. The greatest failure, however, will be if Washingon does not change its own culture on financial regulation.
January 28, 2020
Industry-Led Groups Only First Step to Open Banking
By creating industry-led open banking working groups, the US and Canada are inching their way toward the changes needed to provide the same access to the financial technology tools citizens in other countries do.
November 18, 2019
Lagging Regulation, Consumer Trust Inhibiting Fintech Adoption - Canada
Canada's FinTech sector has seen steady growth in recent years, and there seems to be more on the horizon with increased collaboration between startups and incumbents.
September 16, 2019
Tech Lobbying Efforts Likely to Shape Federal Data Privacy Outcomes
Multiple pending federal legislations seek to address online data privacy concerns, asking businesses to provide better safeguards and data sharing options for consumers.
June 28, 2019
Open Banking and the Wealth Gap
President Donald Trump just traveled to London to talk trade, but it is Rep. Greg Meeks (D-NY) who has imported Britain's best idea. Meeks, who heads the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions, is expected to introduce legislation before the July 4 recess to study how Open Banking can be brought to the U.S.
March 8, 2019
Open Banking: Consumers Must Have Right to Share Data
Millions of Canadians have turned to financial technology, or fintech, which provides intuitive, accessible platforms that enable even the least financially savvy consumers to manage finances and improve economic outcomes.
December 19, 2018
Open Banking - A U.S. Pipe Dream or Near Term Reality?
Some alternative funders are anxious for "open banking" to become the gold standard in the U.S., but achieving widespread implementation is a weighty proposition.
November 21, 2018
The Consumer Case for Open Banking
Collectively, the members of the Financial Data and Technology Association of North America provide approximately 3.5 million Canadians with access to new, technology-powered financial tools that help them manage their finances. Despite an ambiguous regulatory environment, these consumers and small businesses have voted in favor of financial technology.
September 21, 2018
U.S. Way Behind the Curve on Open Banking
Across North America, policymakers, fintech companies, and financial services firms are finally beginning an earnest dialogue about open banking. The Senate Banking Committee recently touched on the issue at a Sept. 18 hearing - one of the first official discussions in the halls of Congress.
August 3, 2018
U.S. Regulators Falling Behind in Supporting Fintech Regulation
Regulators in the US are struggling to keep up with the rate of technology innovation sweeping financial services. Between technology startups and traditional firms looking to use blockchain and nontraditional companies entering finance, regulators around the world are reassessing existing frameworks.
July 30, 2018
The SEC's Proposal Likely Doesn't Signal the End of Washington's Fiduciary Drama
It's been a long and winding road - politically- since the Obama-era Department of Labor (DOL) finalized its fiduciary rule in June 2016. Full of soap opera-esque twists and turns, many believe the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals' decision to kill the DOL rule means the end could be in sight.
May 11, 2018
The One Area Where Banks and Fintechs Want More Regulation
Banks, fintech firms and data aggregators are asking regulators to provide more clarity on how to handle consumer data and who is responsible for leaks when it is shared between firms - a request that's seemingly a reversal from the deregulatory approach the industry often takes.
February 20, 2018
Speaker Interview: Steve Boms
Open banking, powered through Open APIs, puts the consumer, at the center of the financial services ecosystem. In this new, innovation-driven environment, those market players that provide solutions to consumers where they most demand them will flourish, whether they are traditional banks or fintech firms.
December 4, 2017
Why Banks Block Budgeting Apps
Have you found a financial management app you're dying to download? Your bank might be withholding your account data from the app.
June 9, 2017
DOL Fiduciary Rule Takes Effect
The Department of Labor's Fiduciary Rule on retirement advice is taking effect today. After much delay and uncertainty, particularly in the last six months under the new administration, retirement advisors now must put investor interests first when choosing products and determining fees for their services.
April 5, 2017
Who's Fighting for Advisors and Clients in Financial Data Debate?
Young digital-first firms hoping to revolutionize the way advisors manage client finances and build their wealth claim they have run into resistance from major banks opposed to sharing financial data.
February 3, 2017
Trump's Gifts to Wall Street Threatens Retirees - And Robots
Retirees who lost big in the 2008 financial crisis have good reason to worry about President Trump's new rollbacks of Wall Street regulations. So do the robots.
December 29, 2016
Why Silicon Valley is Watching the Screen Scraping Debate
The debate over screen scraping has long pitted banks against fintech companies, but it has also recently captured the interest of another powerful interest group: Silicon Valley.