The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has made good on its threat to take enforcement action against data holders that are not meeting their obligations under Consumer Data Right rules, fining Bank of Queensland A$133,200 for “failing to provide a service enabling customers’ data to be shared.”
It is the first infringement notice the ACCC has issued for an alleged breach of the CDR rules.
BOQ was required to be in a position to share data for financial products by 1 July 2021. The products included savings accounts, term deposits and credit cards.
The ACCC said in a statement yesterday that BOQ did not make the required services available until the end of 2021, “which meant the bank’s customers were unable to share their CDR data for more than five months after the date when the service was required to be available to them”.
ACCC commissioner Peter Crone said: “For the CDR to work effectively for consumers, participants including all banks must meet their data sharing obligations within the timeframes set by the regulations.
“In the current environment of rising interest rates, consumers benefit from greater access to information and tools to help them compare products and make informed decisions about switching banks, and the CDR assist this.”
The ACCC’s CDR enforcement powers include enforceable undertakings, infringement notices, suspension or revocation of accreditation, or commencing court proceedings.
ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb flagged a tougher approach to compliance in a speech in May, when she said: “We appreciate how well the banking sector has taken up CDR but we also take CDR compliance very seriously. To protect the integrity of the CDR we will consider enforcement action against data holders who are not meeting their obligations.
“We understand CDR obligations are sometimes complex but the law now provides a data right for consumers, and data holders need to meet their obligations.”
CDR was launched in July 2020, with open banking as its first iteration. Since then more than 110 authorised deposit-taking institutions have been accredited as data holders and have been active in providing data.
The ACCC said the system provides access to customer information covering more than 99 per cent of Australian household deposits.
However, there are a large number of ADIs on the CDR exemptions register, including big banks, that are yet to supply all the data required. And about 20 per cent of ADIs are not meeting performance benchmarks.
This means that the operation of the system is sub-optimal.