Just to recap, in this series we’ll be giving you a run-down of some big items on the tech regulation agenda in Aotearoa this year, including:
- New Zealand’s ‘Consumer Data Right’?
Here we look into New Zealand’s ‘Consumer Data Right’?
“Open banking” is a generic term for initiatives to make bank customer data available to third party service providers, with the goal of encouraging competition and the fintech industry generally. Unlike other countries which have gone down this path, New Zealand has so far taken an industry-led approach, with Payments NZ (through its ‘API Centre’) developing a set of voluntary technology standards for banks to adhere to – with some strong encouragement from Government. Australia, on the other hand, is legislating for a “Consumer Data Right” which will ultimately apply not only to bank data but also in other key sectors such as energy and telecommunications – compelling providers in these sectors to make their customers’ data available in a secure way.
However, the Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Kris Faafoi indicated in an open letter in December 2019 that industry progress was too slow for his liking. As well as imposing a number of clear requirements on banks to deliver open data via the Payments NZ programme, the Minister also revealed that his officials are looking into a New Zealand version of the Consumer Data Right – with an initial discussion document seeking public feedback due in the first half of this year.
We will be following progress on this closely throughout the year.
