The Reserve Bank of India is introducing a unified fee structure for the Account Aggregator ecosystem effective November 1, 2026. This move replaces scattered, individual contracts with a standardized pricing system to improve financial sustainability. Additionally, the regulator is mandating interoperability between platforms by year-end, making it easier for customers to manage financial data across different services without extra costs.
The Reserve Bank of India is set to overhaul the business model of the country's Account Aggregator ecosystem starting November 1, 2026. This transition involves replacing the existing system of individual, one-on-one contracts between banks and technology providers with a single, mandatory fee structure. The shift is designed to ensure that the digital infrastructure supporting financial data sharing remains financially sustainable for all involved parties.
Under the new framework, financial institutions that request customer data, known as Financial Information Users, will pay a universal fee. This revenue will be shared among the providers of the data, the Account Aggregators who act as the digital bridge, and Sahamati, the body overseeing the ecosystem. By formalizing this income, the regulator aims to encourage banks and financial firms to maintain higher standards for data delivery. The funds are expected to support the essential backend infrastructure, including cybersecurity protocols, two-factor authentication, and consent management tools.
In a related move announced earlier in October, the RBI is also pushing for platform interoperability by December 31, 2026. This means that customers will be able to manage their financial profiles and share data across different platforms using any single Account Aggregator of their choice, rather than being restricted to specific providers. This change is intended to remove technical hurdles that previously made it difficult for users and institutions to switch between or integrate different services.
For the financial sector, these changes are significant. Banks, lenders, and fintech companies have historically faced uncertainty regarding the costs of integrating with different technology partners. By standardizing these fees and ensuring that systems can talk to one another, the regulator aims to increase the adoption of these services among lenders. Importantly, the mandate maintains that individual customers will continue to access these services without paying any direct charges.
While these changes aim to strengthen the ecosystem, they also bring operational challenges. Financial Information Providers and Account Aggregators will need to upgrade their internal systems to align with the new standardized protocols and security requirements before the year-end deadlines. The success of this transition will depend on how smoothly these firms can implement the required technical updates. Furthermore, as the network grows and more financial data is shared digitally, the industry will face increased pressure to ensure high levels of cybersecurity and strict user consent management to maintain public trust in the digital credit infrastructure.