He potential of ccount aggregators

’s been said by many before but it merits epetition because it is true. What UPI did for ayments in India, account aggregators (AAS) will or credit. This radical mechanism was launched etly last week, and it has not received as much ntion as it deserves, partly because of a lack of prehension of what it can do. The mechanism is in its infancy — eight banks have signed on, uding the country’s largest State-owned and ate lenders. But, once it expands, it can help k the credit footprint of just about every Indian o wants (more) credit. he easiest way to explain the mechanism is ugh pre-paid SIM cards for mobile telephony, d typically by those at the bottom of the pyramid t not just them). Currently, someone who ularly recharges their phone is off the credit ar; once their telecom company signs on to ome part of the system launched last week, they not be. The expectation is that as it grows, the hanism will grow to include electronic wallets, com companies, maybe even utilities and local ies, apart from banks and other financial itutions. uch credit information is only shared through licit consent, and through licensed account regators who do not store the information mselves — which addresses the issue of privacy to e extent. A robust privacy and data protection , which has been long in the making, should take e of the other issues. The benefits are clear — easy ess to credit to borrowers currently out of the dit mainstream (including many millennials); her efficiency (think faster loans); and fewer