A number of FinTech firms have formed a new industry group, called Consumer Financial Data Rights (CFDR), which supports the rights of consumers to have unfettered access to their financial data.

The right to their own financial data ensures an individual can give permission to third party companies – such as the ones in the CFDR – to use their data for managing personal finances, obtaining loans, making payments and providing investment advice, in addition to many other applications.

Founding members of the CFDR include: Affirm, Betterment, Digit, Envestnet | Yodlee, Kabbage, Personal Capital, Ripple, and Varo Money, among others.

Coupled with the promotion of consumer choice and access to personal financial data, the group is also committed to improving dialogue throughout the financial community, actively engaging with governments and financial institutions.

Max Levchin, founder and CEO of Affirm, commented: “Each consumer's right to their own financial data is vital in helping to understand their finances and make the best saving and spending decisions. As a company we're committed to helping customers make the best financial decisions and improve their financial lives through technology and improved flexibility, and having a complete picture of a customer's financial picture is essential to achieving this.”

The CFDR group’s first action will be the submission of a joint comment letter in response to the proposed rule-making on Enhanced Cyber Risk Management Standards issued by the Federal Reserve, encouraging regulators to establish a risk hierarchy in regard to cyber security risk in the FinTech industry.

Anil Arora, CEO of Envestnet | Yodlee, added: “The CFDR is committed to initiatives that enable FinTech innovation in the United States, much of which has transpired globally including recent open API initiatives in Europe, the Open Banking standard in the UK, and the commitment by the Monetary Authority of Singapore to create an open API economy and promote the secure use of cloud environments.”

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