Canada has decided to postpone its upcoming Open Banking review due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
The Canadian government-led Open Banking policy review was scheduled to consult stakeholders on applicable standards, in order to provide better consumer data protection.
The review was supposed to take place this spring. It would have looked into various issues including consumer control over their data, governance, and related privacy and security concerns.
As reported by the Financial Post, the consultation has been postponed for several months (until around autumn), because of the Coronavirus crisis – which has made it quite challenging to conduct in-person meetings.
Many people have raised concerns about the review process being too long.
Canadian consumers have already begun to share personal financial details without a proper framework or guidelines.
The lack of proper standards is also a significant problem for Fintech firms, as they’re finding it difficult to compete with heavily-funded traditional banks – especially during these challenging times.
In 2018, the Department of Finance Canada established an Advisory Committee on Open Banking in order to determine whether the country needs to follow others such as the United Kingdom, which aims to make it easier for residents to allow third-party financial services providers to gain access to their personal banking details (with their consent).
A consultation paper had been released around a year back, and organizations and individuals were asked to provide feedback. This was followed by an initial review back in February. The second phase, which was supposed to focus on Open Banking security standards, has now been put on hold due to the pandemic.
The Department of Finance said that, even though there will be a delay, the committee still intends to report the findings of its investigations at some point later this year.
