# Opening up the world of data Author: Pal Sinha, Barnali Author URL: https://financedigest.com/author/pal-sinha-barnali Published: 2018-02-24 Category: FINANCE Category URL: https://financedigest.com/category/finance Meta Title: Data Portability in Financial Services: The Impact of Meta Description: Discover how data regulations are reshaping the financial services landscape and what it means for clients, FinTech companies, and large corporations. URL: https://financedigest.com/opening-up-the-world-of-datahtml ![undefined](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cm5qst7v3003gwirgwqtxn8i8/images/fd240218-11-1736842968029-compressed.jpg) **Nathan Snyder**, Partner, Brickendon We live in a world of data and regulations, so it is not surprising that the two are having a large impact on each other and have fundamentally changed, and will continue to change, the financial services landscape. Imagine a day in the not so distant future, when you are on the train on your way to work, you check a dashboard produced by an app on your phone that shows your spending patterns aggregated from all your bank accounts. It identifies that you are spending too much on entertainment and are [falling short of your savings goal](https://www.financedigest.com/countries-emissions-pledges-still-fall-short-of-global-climate-goals-un-says.html "Countries’ emissions pledges still fall short of global climate goals, UN says"). Fast-forward a couple of hours, and on your commute home from work you learn from a social media alert that a bank has a much higher interest rate on [savings accounts](https://www.financedigest.com/digitised-prize-linked-savings-accounts-how-it-can-encourage-better-financial-habits.html "Digitised prize-linked savings accounts: How it can encourage better financial habits") than your current bank. You therefore use your mobile phone to go online and [transfer your details and money](https://www.financedigest.com/how-to-choose-the-right-service-for-your-international-money-transfer-needs.html "How to choose the right service for your international money transfer needs") in a matter of minutes to take advantage of the better deal. This is data portability at its best. But how will it impact the financial [services sector](https://www.financedigest.com/why-the-financial-services-sector-could-thrive-in-the-subscription-economy.html "Why the Financial Services sector could thrive in the subscription economy") and how can we take advantage of this? **The [changing faces](https://www.financedigest.com/the-changing-face-of-financial-advice.html "The changing face of financial advice ") of data portability** In the [banking world](https://www.financedigest.com/fund-nature-protection-now-or-face-huge-losses-says-world-bank.html "Fund nature protection now or face huge losses, says World Bank"), data portability is a concept that completely changes its appeal in accordance with which hat you are wearing. From a client perspective, it opens a brave new [world](https://www.financedigest.com/the-digital-first-world-financial-services-predictions-for-2022.html "The digital-first world: financial services predictions for 2022") of services that don’t yet exist and the opportunity to easily and seamlessly switch to a service provider with the most attractive offer. For [FinTech companies](https://www.financedigest.com/7-cyber-threats-fintech-companies-should-watch-out-for.html "7 Cyber Threats FinTech Companies Should Watch Out For"), agile and innovative by definition, but still operating in the shadow of large corporate financial services organisations, it offers a window of opportunity to gain access to an enormous pool of historic data to which they can apply specific algorithms, giving insight into individual customers and services and ultimately enabling them to provide a more competitive service. By contrast, for large financial services corporations, [data portability is a can of worms that goes against everything the industry stands for: client data security before everything, Chinese walls and complete isolation of data from the outside world](https://www.financedigest.com/u-s-yield-curve-inverts-after-strong-jobs-data-world-shares-mixed.html "U.S. yield curve inverts after strong jobs data; world shares mixed"). **Impact of regulation** These contradictions are the result of a host of ambiguities regarding what exactly data portability is, how it is supposed to be implemented, and the ultimate issue of what is client data and who owns it? Such questions are rapidly [moving from the philosophical realm into the real world as the newest data](https://www.financedigest.com/dollar-moves-off-lows-on-heels-of-inflation-data.html "Dollar moves off lows on heels of inflation data") protection legislation, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), is due to come into force in May 2018. GDPR clearly defines client data as data that helps directly or indirectly identify a client and swings the debate of ownership in a client’s favour. GDPR also mentions data portability as an individual’s right, but falls short of indicating exactly what it is and how it should be implemented. **Staying competitive** Improved access to data will stimulate competition in the [banking sector](https://www.financedigest.com/is-automation-key-to-esg-success-in-the-banking-and-finance-sector.html "Is automation key to ESG success in the banking and finance sector?"). Reports commissioned by HM Treasury and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) have been unanimous in saying that competition in the [banking industry](https://www.financedigest.com/are-banks-destined-to-merely-become-infrastructure-providers-in-the-banking-industry-of-the-future.html "Are banks destined to merely become infrastructure providers in the banking industry of the future?") is severely hindered by the difficulties consumers experience in taking advantage of the offers of competitors. Data portability offers a solution to this issue, [giving consumers the choice over who has access to their data](https://www.financedigest.com/german-bond-yields-give-up-rise-after-u-s-price-data.html "German bond yields give up rise after U.S. price data"). [**Innovation is crucial**](https://www.financedigest.com/why-innovation-is-crucial-for-marketers.html "Why Innovation is Crucial for Marketers") The question also arises as to what [big banks and other organisations that sit on mountains of valuable client data](https://www.financedigest.com/banks-struggle-to-harness-big-data.html "BANKS STRUGGLE TO HARNESS BIG DATA") need to do to prevent it from being snatched and used by competitors. At Brickendon, our experience of working with a diverse range of clients over the [years has shown us that innovation is the key to staying ahead](https://www.financedigest.com/the-year-ahead-top-payments-trends-to-watch-out-for-in-2022.html "The year ahead: Top payments trends to watch out for in 2022") of the curve. The situation is the same for the adoption of [data portability – embrace it early and become](https://www.financedigest.com/becoming-data-ready-for-mtd-for-corporation-tax-aligning-vat-and-ct.html "Becoming data-ready for MTD for Corporation Tax: aligning VAT and CT") the preferred destination when clients start hopping from one bank to another. Organisations should be innovative in the [way they mine data and come up with new services](https://www.financedigest.com/four-ways-data-and-ai-can-transform-financial-services.html "Four ways data and AI can transform Financial Services") to offer to clients. They should [become agile](https://www.financedigest.com/becoming-agile-starts-by-moving-to-the-cloud.html "Becoming agile starts by moving to the cloud") to the extent that they can quickly replicate and adopt appropriate innovations brought to the market by their competitors and should review their data models, untangle data infrastructure and update the governance policies to clearly separate client data from proprietary data owned by the bank. The goal should be to make it as easy as possible for clients to choose who they bank with, but ensure they are not bound for life by that choice. This a very important aspect of the customer experience which will [allow new and former](https://www.financedigest.com/sri-lanka-top-court-allows-proceedings-against-former-president-rajapaksa-others.html "Sri Lanka top court allows proceedings against former President Rajapaksa, others") clients to join (or re-join) the bank and be integrated easily into their system. [**Back to the future**](https://www.financedigest.com/back-in-barcelona-telecoms-bosses-stake-claim-to-digital-future.html "Back in Barcelona, telecoms bosses stake claim to digital future") [Bill Gates was quoted as saying:](https://www.financedigest.com/brexit-has-added-6-to-britains-food-bills-researchers-say.html "Brexit has added 6% to Britain’s food bills, researchers say") “banking is necessary, banks are not…” and there may have been more truth to his comments than anticipated. The complexity of the road ahead is in effect a call to arms before the data portability issue officially hits the [banking market](https://www.financedigest.com/the-stem-cell-banking-market-to-keep-up-the-digitized-momentum.html "The Stem Cell Banking Market to keep up the digitized momentum") with a tremendous surge of disruptive power. The role banks [play](https://www.financedigest.com/dont-play-second-fiddle-how-disruptor-banks-can-leverage-music-and-audio.html "Don’t Play Second Fiddle: How Disruptor Banks Can Leverage Music and Audio") in the future of banking remains ambiguous and to some extent in their own hands. Going forward [banks will need to employ top](https://www.financedigest.com/metro-bank-former-top-bosses-fined-over-reporting-error.html "Metro Bank, former top bosses fined over reporting error") talent in areas such as regulation, data science, and agile transformation. It will ultimately be an exercise of working side-by- side with the client to [produce a uniquely tailored approach to make the bank a top](https://www.financedigest.com/top-diamond-producer-de-beers-names-equinors-cook-as-new-ceo.html "Top diamond producer De Beers names Equinor’s Cook as new CEO") performer in an exciting, but ruthless and ever more competitive industry. --- This blog is powered by Superblog. 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