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RBI allows account aggregator interoperability; deposits to join CAS

By CAShorts DeskPublished Updated Sources: RBI; Ministry of Finance (PIB); Business Today; Free Press Journal; CDSL

RBI allows account aggregator interoperability; deposits to join CAS
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The Reserve Bank of India on October 7 permitted interoperability among NBFC account aggregators, letting any one aggregator gather financial information through all the others. Governor Sanjay Malhotra said SEBI-regulated depositories will also be enabled to include deposit-account data in their consolidated account statement. Both steps, due by December 31, 2026, point to one statement covering deposits and investments.

Syllabus: GS3 · Indian Economy & Growth; Prelims · Current Affairs & IR; GS2 · Statutory & Regulatory Bodies

Why it matters

Today a saver checks bank statements in one place and shares, bonds or mutual funds in another. Once the measures take effect, due by December 31, 2026, a demat account holder could see bank deposit accounts beside demat holdings in the statement the depository already sends: a fuller picture of what a household owns. Interoperability means a customer is not tied to one aggregator; any one of them can be used to share records held with different institutions. That can make loan applications simpler. The Finance Ministry has said the network lets a lender get tamper-proof data quickly and fast-track loan evaluation. The larger issue is consent-based sharing of financial data across entities that answer to different regulators, here the RBI and SEBI.

Prelims pointers

  • Account aggregator: an NBFC registered with the RBI (NBFC-AA) that moves a customer's financial data on explicit consent; the data may not reside with the aggregator.
  • The framework began with the RBI's 2016 Master Direction; the Reserve Bank of India (Non-Banking Financial Companies - Account Aggregator) Directions, 2025 now govern it.
  • In aggregator terms, the institution holding the data is a Financial Information Provider (FIP); the one receiving it is a Financial Information User (FIU).
  • Regulators and their founding Acts: RBI (RBI Act, 1934) for banks and deposits; SEBI (SEBI Act, 1992) for depositories; IRDAI (IRDA Act, 1999) for insurance.
  • Interoperability here means financial information can be aggregated through all account aggregators from any single one.
  • Consolidated account statement (CAS): issued by depositories under a 2014 SEBI circular; so far it covers an investor's demat accounts and mutual fund units.
  • Depositories hold securities such as shares and bonds in electronic (demat) form; SEBI regulates them under the Depositories Act, 1996.

Practise a UPSC-style question

With reference to the RBI's October 2026 measures on account aggregators, consider the following statements:

1. They permit interoperability, so financial information can be gathered through all account aggregators from any one of them.

2. They enable SEBI-regulated depositories to include deposit-account details in their consolidated account statement.

3. They provide for bank deposit information to reach the depositories directly from banks, without the use of account aggregators.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. (a) 1 and 2 only
  2. (b) 2 and 3 only
  3. (c) 1 and 3 only
  4. (d) 1, 2 and 3
Show the answer

Answer: (a) 1 and 2 only

1 is correct: the RBI allowed interoperability among NBFC account aggregators, so information from all of them can be aggregated through any one. 2 is correct: the RBI is facilitating SEBI-regulated depositories to add bank deposit account details to the consolidated account statement (CAS) they issue. 3 is incorrect: the deposit information is to be included in the CAS through the NBFC account aggregators, and not sent by banks to the depositories directly.

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