As this ABA e Alert reaches you, many of the major banks have announced that they are offering or are about to offer aggregation as a part of their Internet banking product line. Customers are rapidly embracing this service, and the convenience it provides will make its growth explosive. By 2003, the mid-range projections call for over one third of all online banking and brokerage customers to be aggregating their financial accounts at a single, central site. What will make account aggregation so attractive over the next few years is enhanced functionality. While consumers can generally only view their account information, as time goes on they will increasingly be able to initiate payments and move funds between accounts at different financial institutions.
Aggregation has the potential to provide significant consumer benefits.
While nonbanks as well as banks view it as a compelling service. At the same time, the framework of legal and business rules under which aggregation will be provided have yet to be established. For instance, a critical issue is whether the consumer protection provisions of the Federal Reserve's Regulation E apply to nonbank providers of account aggregation services. Banks currently offering Internet banking, or planning to do so in the near future, will need to consider providing account aggregation to their customers. You can register for this briefing by clicking here .