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Concept

Account aggregator

Bank data shared with consent, in seconds.

HOW IT WORKSA lender or an appasks for specificdata, for one purposeand periodThe customer approvesthe request in theaccount aggregator'sapp with an OTPThe account aggregatorasks the customer'sbank for the dataThe bank sends itencrypted, readableonly by the companythat askedWhen the consent ends,the data cannot befetched againCompanies get real bank data in seconds, and thecustomer decides who sees it, for what and for how long.HOW IT WORKSA lender oran app asksfor specificdata, forone purposeand periodThe customerapproves therequest inthe accountaggregator'sapp withan OTPThe accountaggregatorasks thecustomer'sbank forthe dataThe banksends itencrypted,readableonly bythe companythat askedWhen theconsent ends,the datacannot befetched againCompanies get real bank data in seconds, and thecustomer decides who sees it, for what and for how long.HOW IT WORKSA lender or an app asks for specificdata, for one purpose and period↓The customer approves the request in theaccount aggregator's app with an OTP↓The account aggregator asks thecustomer's bank for the data↓The bank sends it encrypted, readableonly by the company that asked↓When the consent ends, the data cannot befetched againCompanies get real bank data in seconds, and the customerdecides who sees it, for what and for how long.
With the customer's OTP consent, the account aggregator fetches data from the customer's bank and passes it, encrypted, to the company that asked, for one purpose and one period.
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The account aggregator system is India's way of sharing your financial data, such as your bank statement, with a lender or an app, with your consent, in seconds. An account aggregator, or AA, is a company licensed by the RBI to carry this data. It passes the data from your bank to the company you choose, for one purpose and for a fixed period. It cannot read the data, and it cannot sell it.

Before account aggregators, a lender asked you to download your bank statement as a PDF and upload it. A PDF can be edited, so lenders had to check every statement for tampering. With an account aggregator, the data comes directly from your bank, so nobody can edit it on the way.

Here is how it works. A lender or an app asks for your consent to see specific data, such as six months of your bank statement, for one purpose and for a fixed period. You approve the request in your account aggregator's app, with an OTP. The account aggregator asks your bank for the data. The bank sends it encrypted, so that only the company that asked can read it. When the consent period ends, that company cannot fetch your data again. Companies connect to account aggregators through banking APIs.

Take, for example, a lender deciding a personal loan. A bank statement analysis tool reads the fetched statement and shows the applicant's salary, EMIs and spending within seconds.

Consider a young freelancer with no loan history. With her consent, alternative credit scoring can judge her from the payments that arrive in her bank account each month.

Say someone has savings accounts at three banks and some mutual funds. An investment app can use one consent to show all of them on one screen, much as wealth aggregation does for very rich clients.

How is an account aggregator different from a credit bureau? A credit bureau keeps a record of your past loans and repayments, and sells your credit score to lenders. An account aggregator keeps no data at all. It carries fresh data from your bank, and only after you approve each request. Like UPI and Aadhaar, it is part of India's digital public infrastructure.

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