Complaints by the fintech sector that some major banks are slow to adopt the program when it comes to open banking proved true when the competition watchdog slammed a $133,200 fine on the Bank of Queensland.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has fined BoQ and a Notice of Infringement for allegedly violating Consumer Data Right (CDR) rules by failing to provide a service to share consumer data.

CDR was first rolled out to major banks two years ago, requiring all other banks to share certain data by July 1, 2021.

The transfer of consumer data is towards the consumer and has provided the fintech sector with a great opportunity to develop new products and solutions to help people better understand their banking and costs

Under the CDR rules, Bank of Queensland had to be ready to share data for financial products, including savings accounts, term deposits and credit cards by July 1, 2021.

It finally happened five months later, on December 13 last year.

This is the first notice of infringement issued by the ACCC for an alleged violation of the CDR rules.

ACCC Commissioner Peter Crone said that for the CDR to work effectively for consumers, participants, including all banks, must fulfill their data sharing obligations within the timeframes set by the regulations.

“In the current environment of rising interest rates, consumers are benefiting from better access to information and tools to help them compare products and make informed bank switching decisions, and the CDR is helping with that,” he said.

“As it rolls out, the CDR will increase consumer choice and foster the innovation needed to improve competition in financial services and other areas. It will play a central role in increasing productivity.”

The ACCC chief said a number of banks had experienced delays in implementing their CDR solutions, in part due to issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic and a shortage of skilled IT resources.

The regulator said it considered a number of factors before issuing the notice of infringement to BoQ, including the period of alleged non-compliance, the number of customers potentially affected, resource constraints and steps the bank took to limit the duration of its mitigate non-compliance. compliance.

The ACCC, with co-regulator, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, is responsible for ensuring that CDR participants, including accredited providers and data holders, meet their obligations.