Big Tech companies, such as Amazon , Google , Facebook , Apple and Microsoft, among others, will now be able to access your bank details thanks to the Open Finance model.

Open Finance is a model for the exchange of financial information between banks and any financial institution. Under this scheme, in a financial service you can add accounts from various institutions, combining the different formats they offer in one.

This data exchange model is here to stay and spread throughout Latin America. In Mexico, it is included in the Fintech Law, which establishes that more than 2,200 entities will have the obligation to make use of application programming interfaces (APIS) to exchange information with each other.

According to Gilberto Pérez Hernández, general director of Regulatory Development of the National Banking and Securities Commission (CNBV), for now the Big Tech can only request data. The request for transactional data can only be done once they have the authorization of the CNBV.

Pérez Hernández pointed out that in case of not obtaining said authorization, Big Tech will not be able to access the transactional information of their users and if they want access to this data, the corresponding authority will require them to meet certain requirements.

The Open Finance regulation establishes that entities with the implementation of APIS, or information exchange applications, may share open financial data with each other such as the location of branches or ATMs; also aggregated data such as the operational statistics of financial entities and the transactional information of their users.

Said transactional information can only be exchanged if users give their consent, otherwise the entities should not make use of this data.

Why will these Big Tech be able to easily enter the financial services offering?

• Thanks to its robust technological platforms.

• Resources such as big data help them to better understand the trends and preferences of their users when buying.

• They can offer various services according to the institutions of each country.