RBI Mandates Account Aggregator Interoperability by December 2026 to Eliminate Ecosystem Lock-In

In a structural overhaul of India's digital financial rails, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced the implementation of full interoperability among licensed Non-Banking Financial Company Account Aggregators (NBFC-AAs). Announced by RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra during the central bank's developmental and regulatory policy statement, the move requires all participants to ensure data-sharing rails function across platforms by December 31, 2026.

Under the current architecture, data flows have remained partially siloed, with users often forced to onboard with multiple aggregator apps depending on which Account Aggregator a specific lender or wealth manager had integrated into its digital journey. The new mandate allows individuals to register with any single licensed aggregator of their choice and seamlessly transmit verified financial statements—ranging from bank deposits to insurance and mutual funds—to any regulated entity across the entire network.

Alongside aggregator interoperability, the RBI directed that Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)-regulated depositories incorporate bank deposit balances alongside demat equities and debt holdings in Consolidated Account Statements (CAS) by December 31, 2026. Demat account holders will now be able to monitor securities and deposit accounts together in a single window, while non-demat holders will retain the ability to aggregate data through NBFC-AAs.

Incumbents Retain Strategic Grip

While the central bank is dismantling customer-facing silos to create an open network analogous to the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), existing financial heavyweights continue to hold the primary plumbing. Financial Information Providers (FIPs)—primarily Tier-1 commercial banks, public sector lenders, and large depositories—still custody the source datasets and determine technical integration speeds.

Furthermore, the aggregator landscape itself remains concentrated among early-moving institutional entities and venture-backed platforms. Currently, 17 licensed Account Aggregators operate across India, including entities such as:

• CAMSFinServ
• Protean
• CRIF Connect
• NESL Asset Data
• PB Financial

Because major private lenders, asset management companies, and depositories maintain long-standing bilateral technology integrations, incumbent institutions will continue to extract value from transaction volumes and enterprise API layer fees even as user interfaces become vendor-agnostic.

Scale and Impact on Retail Underwriting

The Account Aggregator framework, originally notified by the RBI under Master Directions in September 2016 and expanded commercially in September 2021, has rapidly grown into a cornerstone of credit delivery.

The latest network adoption metrics highlight the expanding scope of the system:

• Over 2.88 billion financial accounts are enabled for data sharing across 179 live Financial Information Providers.
• Users have linked approximately 284.6 million financial accounts to the AA network as of late March 2026, rising past 338 million by August.
• The network facilitated an estimated ₹3.82 lakh crore in loan disbursals across 3.68 crore loans in FY26.
• AA-driven underwriting now powers 8.4% of retail and MSME lending by value and 11.8% by loan volume across India.

For retail investors and borrowers, interoperability reduces onboarding friction when accessing credit, personal financial management tools, and investment advisory services. Borrowers will no longer face dropped journeys caused by mismatched aggregators between their home bank and prospective digital lenders. For the fintech sector, however, the shift places a premium on user experience and value-added analytical layers, as mere aggregation access will cease to offer a proprietary moat.

Tags: Reserve Bank of India SEBI Account Aggregator CAMSFinServ Protean eGov Technologies Fintech