Legislation

Two acts in particular that are being implemented through the European Commission to increase the viability of distributing the value of personal data from large corporations to the people are as follows:

• Data Governance Act (DGA)
  • The DGA seeks to increase trust in data sharing. It will open the door for “data intermediaries” such as Unbanx to be that place where people port their data to.
  • The DGA came into force on the 23rd June 2022. Following a grace period of 15 months, it will be applicable later this year: from 24 September 2023.
• Digital Markets Act (DMA)
  • Regulation regarding large platforms such as Meta and Alphabet that act as “gatekeepers”. The DMA will make data portability the norm, everyone will be able to port their personal data from the large platforms to wherever they choose.
  • The DMA will move into its crucial implementation phase and start to apply as of 2 May 2023. After that, within two months and at the latest by 3 July 2023, potential gatekeepers will have to notify their core platform services to the Commission if they meet the thresholds established by the DMA.

Does this legislative push apply to the UK?

In the UK, a new Digital Markets Competition regime will apply to digital companies designated as having ‘strategic market status’ (SMS) and will be enforced by the Digital Markets Unit (DMU) which was launched in April last year within the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The CMA has indicated that it intends to work closely with the European Commission and other regulators internationally as the digital world knows no national borders. Some commentary suggests that the UK may be more stringent than the EU.

Evidence of banks selling their customer data

• Cardlytics, a publicly traded marketing and insights company has built its business on customer transaction data.
• In 2021, the company had paid their banking partners $137mn that year for sharing their customers' bank transaction data. (Source: Cardlytics 10-K)
  • Cardlytics states that it has access to 184 million customer accounts. Considering there are about 6 billion people who have bank accounts around the world, and using the $137mn figure that Cardlytics’ banking partners received - the global market for bank transaction data can be sized in the region of $4.5bn. For now, let’s just say that it’s in the range of $3 - $5bn given other factors such as geographic variation.
• Which banks do Cardlytics work with?
  • Cardlytics partners with several of the largest banks and processors in the US and the UK. In the US, these include Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, SunTrust, PNC, BB&T, Regions, as well as many smaller financial institutions. In the UK, Cardlytics works with Lloyds Bank, Bank of Scotland, Halifax, and Santander. (Source: Cardlytics FAQ)

How does Unbanx access this banking data currently?

Unbanx uses Open Banking to allow consumers to control access to their banking data and payments. If a consumer wants to share their data with a 3rd party such as Unbanx they can do this by consenting via Open Banking protocols. The data is accessed and delivered via APIs that are built and serviced by the consumer's bank under the Open Banking mandate.

How can consumers redeem Unbanx points?

Unbanx app users can earn and redeem points with the following retailers: Adidas, Amazon, Argos, Caffè Nero, Cineworld, Decathlon, Deliveroo, Foot Locker, H&M, Halfords, IKEA, Marks & Spencer, Nike, Pizza Express, Sainsbury’s, Steam, Tesco, TK Maxx, Uber.  More redemption partners are currently being added.