Dutch central bank outlines Open Finance priorities

The Dutch central bank is focussed on enabling data mobility and protecting consumers as it considers new rulesets to steer the blossoming Open Finance movement.

Addressing delegates at Open Banking Expo Europe in Amsterdam on Friday (30 September), Patrick de Neef, chief innovation officer at De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), said data mobility is a focus for Dutch policymakers as financial businesses begin to embrace Open Finance.

“We believe data mobility… is an important part of where the financial services sector is heading. It is important that we facilitate that, or at least not hinder it. Every individual still needs to have control of his or her data and data should be available cross-sector.”

DNB’s innovation chief shared data on how consumers behaved during the first year after the introduction of the second iteration of the Payment Services Directive (PSD2) in the Netherlands.

While two-thirds of consumers had not yet granted authorisation to share their data, nearly a quarter (23%) gave consent to the bank where they had their primary payment account. 6% of customers granted permission for another bank to access or use their data.

Mr de Neef said he was unsurprised at the findings but noted that the DNB expects this to change in the years to come.

“It is all about trust,” he said. “Why are customers sharing data with banks? It’s because banks are still the most trusted entity that we have around.

“The question is whether this is going to change over the next 10 years and this is not a linear process.”

The regulator said that trends among the younger generation, such as their willingness to embrace digital interactions on their mobile devices, would likely shift this trend over the next decade.

“For them, it is completely normal to trust their phone,” he added. “The inherent use of digital techniques at home will completely change. The next generation in 10 years will have completely different attitudes.”