Account Aggregator

What is an Account Aggregator?

An Account Aggregator is an RBI-regulated entity that enables an individual or business to share their financial data from one institution with another, with explicit consent, through a standardised interface.

How the framework works

Three roles exist. A Financial Information Provider holds the data — a bank, insurer or tax system. A Financial Information User wants it, typically a lender assessing an application. The Account Aggregator sits between them, carrying the consent and the data, and is prohibited from storing or reading what passes through it.

The individual grants consent specifying what data, for what purpose, and for how long. Consent can be withdrawn, and the framework is designed so withdrawal is as straightforward as granting.

What it changed

Before the framework, a lender assessing a small business collected bank statements as PDFs, often by email, and had no reliable way to confirm they had not been altered. The process took days and forged statements were a live problem.

Data arriving through an Account Aggregator comes directly from the source institution, is machine-readable, and cannot be edited in transit. That has made cash-flow-based lending practical for borrowers who have no collateral and thin credit files.

What it does not solve

Account Aggregators move financial data. They do not establish that a business is real, currently trading, or that the applicant controls it — those remain separate verification questions, answered by checks such as GST verification and bank account verification. A lender can now answer “can this borrower repay” far more cheaply than it can answer “is this borrower who they say they are”.

Where it is used

Digital lending, particularly to MSMEs and thin-file borrowers; personal finance management; insurance underwriting; and wealth management onboarding.