We have already written about the Account Aggregators. Essentially, AA is a data sharing protocol between financial institutions conceived as a mechanism to reduce the waiting time for individuals in queues at the bank branches, to avoid using cumbersome banking portals, and sharing their passwords. There is no need to seek out physical notarisation to access and share their financial documents.

This protocol opens up the financial eco-system. It unleashes next wave of financial inclusion and financial innovation.

It has a layer of consumer consent. Users can control the data that is being used by the financial institutions.

So far, 1.1billion bank accounts (both from public and private banks) have gone live in India’s AA eco -system.

However, the new guidelines issued by the RBI eliminates the need for intermediaries. It stipulates direct pass-through of loans from bank to customer, thus eliminating the role of third parties such as payment aggregators. The AAs have sought relief from the RBI.