Access to large consumer data sets is increasingly
driving new and innovative ways of doing business for traditional
banks and fintech startups, whether it be the use of artificial
intelligence (AI) tools to determine credit eligibility or the
design of novel services relating to budgeting, investment tracking
or deferred payments.
With cash transactions decreasing, COVID-19 accelerating the
move away from face-to-face interactions in local branches and the
Australian implementation of 'open banking' – which
gives consumers the right to transfer their transaction and account
data between banks – such innovations are only set to
continue.
The interplay between this trend and financial services
regulation is dynamic, and it is reasonable to expect that the use
of 'big data' by financial services providers will attract
greater attention from regulators including ASIC, the ACCC and the
OAIC in future.
