Four years of launch of the Account Aggregator Ecosystem

The Account Aggregator (AA) Ecosystem, India’s pioneering Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for secure financial data sharing, has completed four years since its official launch on September 2, 2021.

Background and Framework
The concept of Account Aggregators was first laid down in 2016, when the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued the Master Directions for the AA framework. Account Aggregators are NBFCs licensed by RBI to act as intermediaries that enable encrypted, consent-driven sharing of financial data between Financial Information Providers (FIPs) and Financial Information Users (FIUs).

How It Works
The AA framework allows users to consolidate their financial information—including bank accounts, investments, loans, and insurance—and share it with service providers like lenders or wealth managers. Importantly, no financial data is retrieved or shared without explicit customer consent. Registering with an AA is completely voluntary for consumers.

Recognition as Digital Public Infrastructure
During India’s G20 Presidency in 2023, the AA ecosystem was globally recognised as a foundational layer of DPI, complementing Aadhaar (identity) and UPI (payments). It serves as the data exchange layer in India’s digital stack.

Current Status
As of now:

• 112 Financial Institutions are live both as FIPs and FIUs
• 56 institutions are live solely as FIPs
• 410 institutions are live solely as FIUs

(Source: PIB)