CDR accreditation guidelines released

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has now released a guide that outlines how applicants can lodge a valid application to become an accredited person.

Prospective data recipients will first need to create an account on the participant portal in order to submit an accreditation application. 

Applications for accreditation will then need to be submitted via the accreditation application form available in the Consumer Data Right participant portal. 

Any business is able to apply for accreditation, provided that they meet the criteria for accreditation as stated in the CDR Rules. 

For example, an applicant and any associated person of the applicant must be a fit and proper person to manage CDR data.

Currently, the only level of accreditation is unrestricted. Additional levels of accreditation will be included in the future as the CDR develops and other sectors are introduced to the CDR regime.

Earlier this year, the ACCC launched a consultation on expanding the rules of the CDR to enable more financial services professionals, such as brokers, to receive consumer data with consumer consent.

Following consultation with industry, the ACCC noted that it was “critical” that a broad range of recipients were able to engage in the CDR scheme for it to “achieve the competition and innovation objectives of the regime, and for the CDR to support Australia’s digital economy”.

Amendments permitting the use of accredited intermediaries to collect data, through an expansion of the rules relating to outsourced service providers, were made in November 2020.

The amendments expand the Consumer Data Right system by allowing for accredited businesses to rely on other accredited businesses to collect CDR data on their behalf, so they can provide goods and services to consumers.

While the open banking regime expanded into mortgage data on 1 November 2020, a recent update from the ACCC shows that the four major banks are behind schedule in providing a number of deliverables to consumers. For example, none of the big four is yet able to show closed accounts to consumers under CDR, with the majority expecting to rectify this in February 2021.

Other delays include the inclusion of account details while CDR consumers banking through CBA will be unable to share direct debit data for home loan and personal loan repayments under the scheme until July next year.

[Related: Open banking expected to ease income and expense verification]