The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) is set to launch a pilot programme that will enable customers to use a consent-based and secure way to share their account data with other banks.
The pilot scheme will cover deposit account information for the retail, corporate and small and medium-sized enterprise customer segments.
It is expected that the banks will gradually develop new and innovative banking services, such as streamlined loan applications, consolidated account views and tailored data-driven services.
“The IADS pilot programme marks a significant milestone in fostering a customer-centric banking landscape,” said Howard Lee, the deputy chief executive of the HKMA, in a statement released to the press on Thursday.
“By enabling consent-based and secure interbank account data sharing, both banks and customers will benefit from improved efficiency, lowered cost and innovative digital services and solutions, fuelling the growth of the digital economy in Hong Kong.”
Such fintech innovations have long been seen as a must for the city to upgrade its overall banking system to a new and higher level of smart banking.
Throughout the new pilot programme, the HKMA said it will monitor the implementation progress and market developments, and further formulate a possible implementation approach of the IADS initiative in the future.
The city’s de facto central bank, working with the Hong Kong Association of Banks and the banking industry, has already completed a preliminary study of the IADS initiative.
It found that sharing customer bank account data between banks helped to digitalise banking operations, strengthen the risk management of banks, and enhance customer experience.