A Deep Dive into RBI’s Account Aggregator Framework

The Reserve Bank of India introduced the Account Aggregator (AA) framework in 2016 to enable secure, consent-based financial data sharing between two regulated institutions. Since then, it has become a key pillar of the country’s digital public infrastructure, completely redefining how financial data is accessed, shared, and secured.

Instead of asking users to submit bank statements, income proofs, or tax documents physically, regulated financial institutions can now retrieve verified data directly from Account Aggregators, without violating user consent.

Intrigued to know how the system works? Let’s dig deeper to understand the Account Aggregator framework RBI in detail, along with its benefits, practical use cases, implementation challenges, and future scope.

Understanding the RBI’s Account Aggregator framework

An Account Aggregator (AA) is an RBI-regulated entity that holds an NBFC-AA license, allowing individuals to safely and digitally share their financial information, like bank statements or investment details, from one financial institution to another within the AA network.

They act as fiduciary entities, responsible for collecting and transmitting structured financial data from multiple Financial Information Providers (FIPs) to a Financial Information User (FIU).

Financial Information Provider (FIP): These are institutions that hold your financial data, i.e., banks, NBFCs, mutual funds, insurance providers, tax and GST platforms
Financial Information User (FIU): Businesses that rely on this data, i.e., lenders, asset management companies, and wealth managers, to offer credit, assess risk, or deliver personalised services

The AA system runs entirely on user consent. A user has granular control over what information to share, for how long, and with whom. That consent can be revoked at any time by the user.

What makes AA a cornerstone of India’s open finance infrastructure is its secure-by-design architecture. The AA never stores, reads, or modifies data. It simply transmits encrypted information through secure APIs and maintains a verifiable record of user consent.

Did you know: In March 2025, the RBI launched a self-regulatory organisation (SROs) framework to improve coordination across the Account Aggregator ecosystem. This market-based model sets shared standards to align all the players for smooth and compliant coordination.

Benefits of the AA framework for businesses

The AA framework reduces reliance on fragmented data collection methods. Instead of asking users to physically upload bank statements, fill forms, or share screenshots, it offers businesses quick and reliable access to verified financial information. Here’s what businesses stand to gain by adopting the Account Aggregator framework:

Enhanced customer onboarding

If a customer’s financial institution is registered in the Account Aggregator system, the customer does not have to undergo lengthy KYC processes during the application process.

This removes the need for document verification and paperwork, making onboarding super quick for customers.

Improved credit assessment

An AA framework allows lenders to capture comprehensive financial data from multiple sources like bank accounts, loan records, insurance, and investments. This gives them a sharper view of the borrower’s financial behaviour, including repayment capacity and income stability.

With this depth, lenders can identify risk more accurately, tailor credit terms, and approve applications faster.

Operational efficiency

With AA, financial data arrives structured, verified, and ready for use. Businesses no longer need to sort through inconsistent formats or manually extract details from PDFs and scanned documents. Result? The entire data collection workflow becomes faster, cleaner, and easier to integrate into automated systems.

Regulatory compliance

The Account Aggregator ecosystem is overseen by multiple regulatory bodies like the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), and the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority of India.

This means businesses operate within a framework that’s already aligned with sector-specific compliance norms. Consent flows, data handling, and security standards—the regulators approve everything.

Real-world applications and case studies

Let’s now look at some real examples of how businesses are using the AA framework to capture data.

Fintech innovations

Fintechs are cutting down underwriting time by using Account Aggregators to instantly access verified financial data like bank statements, loan histories, income records, and more. This real-time access enables them to capture everything needed for accurate risk assessment and smooth digital lending workflows.

For instance, KreditBee, in collaboration with Digitap.ai, leveraged the Account Aggregator (AA) framework to access real-time bank statement data with user consent. In a pilot run, they processed over 1,00,000 bank accounts, allowing underwriters to bypass manual document collection and accelerate credit assessments with structured, instantly retrievable financial insights.

Banking sector

The AA framework offers a consolidated view of a customer’s finances across banks, mutual funds, insurers, and other regulated entities. This level of granular detailing helps banks build sharper customer profiles based on real income, cash flow trends, spending habits, and liabilities.

For instance, Axis Bank has adopted AA integrations to speed up its process for car and two-wheeler loans, personal loans, and home loans. ICICI Bank, on the other hand, uses AA solutions to determine credit card eligibility and credit limits for its customers.

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Insurance and wealth management

The AA framework provides insurance providers and wealth managers with a consolidated view of a customer’s financial portfolio. This includes insights into their bank accounts, mutual funds, insurance policies, and much more.

From ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company Limited to HDFC Life Insurance, every life insurance company out there is using the AA framework to customize its product (Life Insurance) offerings. Besides, AA offers data in digital format, which can be fed directly into the platform to generate actionable reports.

Steps for businesses to integrate the AA framework

From acquiring an API to requesting users’ consent, managing financial data, and everything in between, a lot needs to be checked off to integrate the AA framework for financial data sharing.

Let us help you navigate that road with this step-by-step framework:

Assess eligibility

As a very first step, determine if your business is eligible to participate in the Account Aggregator ecosystem:

Does your organization qualify as an FIP or FIU? If your business holds customer financial data (like a bank, insurer, or mutual fund), you qualify as an FIP. If you consume that data for lending, advisory, or underwriting, you’re an FIU
Is your business a regulated entity? Only organizations regulated by the RBI, SEBI, IRDAI, or PFRDA are permitted to participate in the AA framework
Does the AA framework support your use case? Your data usage must fall within permitted categories, like credit risk evaluation, investment planning, wealth management, or insurance underwriting
Partner with licensed AAs

To access or share data within the AA framework, you must work with an RBI-licensed Account Aggregator.

Now, you can either work directly with an AA, who’ll guide you through testing, documentation, and compliance, or take the easier route with a Technology Service Provider (TSP). A TSP takes care of all the backend work, like API setup, encryption, and security, so your team can go live quickly without heavy lifting.

Either way, your integration must meet all AA consent and data protection standards.

Implement technical infrastructure

Once partnered with an AA, your business must integrate the required tech stack.

FIPs must expose standardized APIs to allow AAs to fetch user data securely and in real time.
FIUs must be able to receive and process this data, often in JSON or XML format, and map it into their existing workflows.
Consent dashboards, encryption layers, audit logs, and fallback mechanisms must be part of your infrastructure.
Staff training and compliance

After the setup, train your teams to understand how the AA framework works, both from the user interface and the backend system.

Start with the product and operations teams. Walk them through actual consent journeys: what users approve, how consent is recorded, and when access automatically expires.
Train customer support teams to address questions about data sharing and privacy. Provide them with clear scripts and defined escalation paths.
Make sure compliance and legal teams stay aligned with the existing regulatory framework, including RBI’s AA guidelines and upcoming obligations under the Companies Act and DPDP Act.

Challenges and considerations

Although AA is regulated by the RBI, there are concerns both on the user front and technical aspects when it comes to AA integrations.

Here’s what businesses need to know while integrating AA into their data collection workflows:

Data privacy concerns: Users often worry about how their financial data will be used, whether it will be stored, and who can access it after consent is given. These concerns can be addressed by educating them, offering clear consent summaries, and transparent data policies
Technical integration: Existing systems may not support standard AA data formats or consent protocols. Businesses should invest in easy-to-integrate APIs or work with a TSP to bridge system gaps efficiently
Regulatory compliance: AA-related compliance guidelines evolve alongside data protection laws like the DPDP Act. It’s important to track updates from RBI and other regulators to avoid lapses and ensure your internal practices stay aligned

Future outlook

Since its public rollout in 2021, the Account Aggregator framework has grown into a working ecosystem with full-stack consent flows, real-time integrations, and production-grade deployments across sectors.

Moving forward, here’s how the AA ecosystem is expected to evolve:

Expansion of the AA ecosystem

The next phase will bring more participants, especially insurers, pension platforms, GST networks, and tax data holders into the FIP (financial information providers) fold. This will dramatically widen the types of data FIUs can access.

For businesses, this means unlocking new use cases:

Underwriting for customers without a credit history
Personalised wealth advice based on net asset position
Smarter insurance product design

For users with siloed or fragmented records, this expansion will allow complete financial visibility under one framework.

Technological advancements

AI and ML systems can now plug into clean datasets across accounts and sources. This allows businesses to build panoramic financial profiles, flag risk patterns early, and recommend action before problems escalate.

In lending and wealth management, predictive analytics trained on AA data is already helping identify early fraud signals and offer dynamic credit or investment strategies with zero paperwork.

Global implications

The AA framework is drawing attention as a scalable model for consent-based data sharing. Countries like the UK and Australia are watching India’s AA-led public infrastructure to inform their own open finance systems.

If adoption continues at this pace, AA could set the template for future cross-border data exchange, without compromising user control or regulatory oversight.

Conclusion

The Account Aggregator framework RBI makes it easier for businesses to access key financial data from a single source of truth, instead of going back and forth between multiple institutions and scattered documents. It’s secure, fast, and built entirely on user consent.

Data is your strategic asset, and as a business, you should focus on building workflows powered by insight, not paperwork.

With Hyperverge’s Account Aggregator API, you get a compliant, production-ready infrastructure that connects your business to the AA ecosystem, without the overhead of building from scratch.

Its plug-and-play module integrates seamlessly, supports extensive account linking, captures users’ consent, and fetches digitally signed financial data with a 100% success rate.

Now acquire the data necessary to provide top-notch customer service without stretching the onboarding flow.

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FAQs

What is the Account Aggregator framework?

The Account Aggregator (AA) framework enables secure extraction and transmission of financial information with user consent between different financial entities. It facilitates real-time, encrypted data transfer between institutions that hold financial data and those that need it, without storing or altering the data.

Which Account Aggregators are approved by the RBI?

There are 16 Account Aggregator companies in India. Some of these include:

Agya Technologies Private Limited
CAMSFinServ
Cookiejar Technologies Private Limited
Digio Internet Private Limited

What is the payment aggregator framework of the RBI?

The payment aggregator framework governs entities that facilitate online payment transactions between merchants and customers. RBI mandates registration, compliance with KYC norms, and strict data security standards for these intermediaries to reduce payment fraud.