Financial Services Advisor

Open-banking initiatives, which allow third-party service providers to access customers’ financial data through application programming interfaces, or APIs, are growing rapidly in several countries, IDB Invest said in a report earlier this year. The practice allows consumers access to a variety of financial products at better rates, as well as financial service providers to expand their reach, the report said. How developed are open-banking initiatives in Latin America and the Caribbean, and to what extent are consumers taking advantage of them? What assurances do consumers have that their data is being kept safe at the same time that more institutions have access to it? How adequate are government regulations on open banking in the region, and to what extent will industry advancements require their periodic updating?