Phase 4 of Open Banking starts this Wednesday (15th) with expansion of services

Phase 4 of Open Banking starts this Wednesday (15th), according to the schedule released by the Central Bank (BC).

From now on, it will be possible to share information about investment products, insurance, pensions, foreign exchange, accreditation services, time deposit accounts and other financial services.

This means that in this phase, which introduces the concept of “Open Finance”, users will have more options for institutions to share their types of personal finance and will not be subject only to banking, as established in the other phases of Open Banking.

“Phase 4 ends up being an extension of Phase 2, as it takes data sharing to other financial products in addition to the initial banking products, such as statement, credit limit, issues related to financial transactions”, says Gustavo Bresler, Strategy Manager of Quem, a platform that works with technology for Open Banking.

Therefore, with consent, the user will be able to receive various offers from insurance companies, investment brokers and other services according to their profile, history and financial information.

“It is the consolidation of data sharing, ending this first moment of Open Banking in Brazil”, adds Bresler.

Operation in stages

BC defined Phase 4 in two stages. The first, which begins this Wednesday (15), aims to ensure that participating institutions start a process of functional certification of APIs (systems) of the products that will be shared.

This means that they will need to present the technology that certifies the quality and adherence to the Central Bank’s specifications for the service. Thus, they will provide data on insurance products, investments, exchange rates, among others.

According to BC, when certifications for services are obtained, each specific Phase 4 product must obtain a record in the API Participant Directory environment.

“Each of the types of service will have a deadline to reach the Central Bank and show the entity the APIs, or the technical ways to make the data available, and ask them to certify the product and check if it is in the right model”, explained Thiago Saldanha, CTO at Sinqia, a platform that works with technology for Open Banking.

Until March 4, 2022, insurance, open private pension and capitalization services must apply for registration. On the 11th of the same month, it will be the turn of accreditation services in payment arrangements.

Foreign exchange operations have March 18, 2022 as the deadline, followed by time deposit account services and other products of an investment nature, which must be registered in the APIs Participant Directory environment by the 25th of the same month.

“So, in this first step, initially nothing changes for the end user. It serves for the entity to prepare and start making data available”, explains Saldanha.

The second stage of Phase 4 starts on May 31 of next year. In it, it will be possible to obtain the transactional data of the mentioned services, with the client’s prior authorization. In other words, at the end of the first half of 2022, the integration of data in Open Finance begins to take effect in practice.

Safety

Institutions participating in Open Banking can only share user data they authorize. The consumer can choose to stop sharing information at any time.

“Consent must be characterized as a free, informed, prior and unequivocal expression of will, made by electronic means, by which the client agrees with the sharing of data or services for certain purposes”, establishes the Central Bank.

The BC informs that participating institutions must include the client’s identification; request sharing with clear, objective and appropriate language; present the data transmission institution or account holder and list the data or services that will be shared.

“From the moment you share your data, the other side starts doing custom services for you. When customization starts, it becomes much easier to understand if certain attitudes are part of the user’s behavior or if the user may be suffering a hacker attack”, said Wagner Martin, VP of Business Development at Veritran, a technology company.

When listing the security issues of Phase 4 of Open Banking, Martin said that the systems used are more complex and difficult to expose than those used in Pix, BC’s instant payment tool, which was the target of some scams and frauds in 2020.

“Open Finance is less exposed than Pix, which is the front line of the money out, something much more vulnerable. Open Finance is behind system engineering and not social engineering. Therefore, the data ends up being protected by tools that are more consistent”, he declared.

Next steps

With the closure of Phase 4 of Open Banking, the specialists consulted by the CNN Brasil Business claim that there are numerous possibilities for service offerings with the interconnection of data already established.

“There is a lot of expectation with the various products that may appear. One of the most talked about is the comparative factor. With the opening of the data, a standardized system can compare the products, cost, return, rate and other models offered by financial institutions to the user”, said Thiago Saldanha, CTO of Sinqia.

After the completion of the implementation of Open Finance in the country, it will be possible to compare the most valuable financial products, such as exchange, according to Saldanha.

“You will be able to buy a foreign currency by checking the exchange rate at several brokers through a single screen, which shows the price comparison, rates for the user to choose the best option”, he added.