ICICI Prudential Life Insurance in discussion for onboarding Account Aggregator system: Official

NEW DELHI: ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company Ltd (ICICI Pru Life) is in discussion for onboarding the Account Aggregator system, a financial data sharing platform to be regulated by the Reserve Bank.

Earlier this month, the government unveiled the Account Aggregator (AA) network to allow sharing of financial data of individuals, which can be used by various financial services providers such as banks, insurers, fintech companies.

"We really look forward to that. We have been in discussion for onboarding on that platform. What the system can really do is that it will digitise the whole journey (of data collection)...today if I have to ask a customer, I will have to ask for his bank statement, income tax statement among others.

"It is a big enabler and there are some discussions. We will have to see operationally where exactly we are," Deepak Kinger, Chief - Risk and Compliance, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company (ICICI Pru Life), told PTI.

When a customer buys an insurance policy, the core part in that buying journey is that the insurer provides coverage against whatever will be income loss to the family in case of an untoward happening, the official said. "As a part of that, an important element is to do a financial assessment of the person, to know what is the income of that person, what will be the income loss in case of loss of life etc," Kinger said.

He said that procuring data from a single source will not only bring efficiency but will also help reduce the cost for the customers. It can become a multi-step process in a few clicks.

"So how to simplify that journey will be a really big thing. From a customer proposition, instead of having the hassle of tracing the documents to give to an insurance company (or any other service provider)...I think it will be a very big thing," Kinger said.

On affordability of services, he said when cost decreases, some degree of it is passed on to customers as well. "More than cost, I see it as a whole journey of buying (a financial service)," he said. An Account Aggregator (AA) will be regulated by the RBI through an NBFC-AA licence.

It will allow individuals access and share their information securely and digitally from one financial institution they have an account with to any other regulated entity in the AA network. The data can be shared only after the consent of the individual.

The AA system aims to bring a revolutionary change in the investment and credit sector as customers will have greater access and control over their financial records. It will help expand the potential pool of customers for lenders and fintech companies.

Account Aggregator empowers the individual with control over their personal financial data, which otherwise remains in silos, the Ministry of Finance said after the system was unveiled this month.