Government consultation has begun on the banking regulations under the Customer and Product Data Bill (Bill) and the potential designation of the electricity sector under the Consumer Data Right (CDR) regime established by the Bill.
Submissions must be provided by 5pm on Thursday 10 October.
The Government expects that the Bill will be passed into law in early 2025, and that the open banking regulations and standards will start to come into force in December 2025.
If the electricity sector is designated in-scope of the CDR, it is expected that associated regulations would be completed in late 2025 and rolled out in 2026.
Background
The Bill seeks to create a CDR framework which facilitates secure and standardised data transfers from, and certain designated actions to be taken by, service providers at the request of customers.
The Bill is applied to designated sectors by passing sector-specific regulations. Banking has been confirmed as the first designated sector under the CDR regime, and the Government is considering the suitability of electricity as the second designated sector.
For more background on the CDR, please see our previous insights available here.
Government announcement
The Government is now seeking feedback on:
- open banking - its proposed designation of the banking industry under the CDR and the development of associated regulations and standards; and
- electricity - the potential designation of the electricity sector under the CDR regime.
Separate discussion papers for each of these consultations are available on the MBIE website.
Open banking
The Government is seeking feedback across a range of areas, including:
- The scope of an open banking designation - what customer data, and which banks, should be designated. MBIE’s current proposal is that ANZ, ASB, BNZ and Westpac be designated from 1 December 2025; Kiwibank be designated from 1 June 2026; and other banks to be permitted to participate on an opt-in basis.
- Accreditation – the specific criteria that businesses must meet before they can become accredited to make requests on behalf of bank customers (Accredited Requestors).
- Fees – what fees (if any) should banks be able to charge Accredited Requestors for providing customer data or initiating payments.
- Detailed requirements for open banking – what customer consent requirements should apply and what open banking payment limits would be appropriate.
- Standards for open banking – the merits of MBIE’s current proposal that existing Payments NZ API Centre APIs and associated technical standards be leveraged and what performance standards should apply.
Exploring a consumer data right for the electricity sector
The Government is seeking feedback on the following areas:
- Status quo – problems with the status quo in the electricity sector and how the current situation is likely to evolve in the absence of a CDR designation.
- The potential scope of an electricity designation - which data, and which sector participants, should be designated in-scope, and whether any actions should be designated.
- Costs and benefits - the potential pros and cons of an electricity sector designation.
- Other considerations – including applicable accreditation criteria, fees, consent requirements, and interaction between the CDR and the Electricity Participation Code 2010.
Once consultation closes, it is expected that the Government will decide whether to progress an electricity sector designation by early 2025. If designated, further consultation will be required ahead of regulations being finalised late next year and rolled out in 2026.
Next steps
The discussion document, submission template and instructions on making a submission can be found here for the banking sector, and here for the electricity sector.
If you would like any assistance preparing a submission or would like to know how the CDR might affect your organisation, please do not hesitate to contact us.