Account Aggregator
Also written Account Aggregator network · AA network
An RBI-regulated NBFC that retrieves a customer's financial information from Financial Information Providers — including AMCs through their RTAs — and passes it on only with the customer's explicit electronic consent.
In plain language
Financial data about one person sits in many places: bank accounts, demat accounts, mutual fund folios. The Account Aggregator (AA) network is the Government of India's financial data-sharing system for moving that data between institutions — only when the customer says so.
An Account Aggregator is an RBI-regulated Non-Banking Finance Company (NBFC) that facilitates retrieval or collection of financial information pertaining to a customer from Financial Information Providers (FIPs), on the basis of the customer's explicit consent.
The AA is a pipe, not a vault. It carries the data; it does not keep it, own it, or use it for anything else. And in the securities market, the providers that sit at the start of that pipe for mutual fund data are AMCs, through their RTAs.
How it works
The three roles:
| Role | Who | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Financial Information Provider (FIP) | In securities markets: AMCs through their RTAs, and Depositories — specified from RBI's list of eligible entities | Holds the data; shares it on valid consent |
| Account Aggregator (AA) | RBI-regulated NBFC | Collects consent, retrieves and transmits data |
| Financial Information User (FIU) | The entity the customer has consented to share with | Receives the data |
The sequence:
- The customer gives consent through the AA. It takes the form of a consent artefact — electronic consent as defined in RBI Master Guidelines.
- The FIP shares financial information only on receipt of a valid consent artefact from the customer through the AA.
- Post verification of the consent artefact, the FIP digitally signs the financial information and securely transmits it to the AA.
- The AA passes it to the customer or the consented FIU.
Three restrictions bind the AA. The information is not stored by the AA; it is not the property of the AA; and it is not to be used in any other manner except for providing it to the customer or the consented FIU.
SEBI enabled securities-market entities to participate as FIPs by circular dated 19 August 2022.
A worked example
Illustrative numbers and parties.
Mrs Menon holds mutual fund folios at three fund houses and a demat account:
| Holding | Value | FIP that holds the data |
|---|---|---|
| Folio at AMC 1 | Rs 4,20,000 | AMC 1, through its RTA |
| Folio at AMC 2 | Rs 2,75,000 | AMC 2, through its RTA |
| Folio at AMC 3 | Rs 1,05,000 | AMC 3, through its RTA |
| Mutual funds total | Rs 8,00,000 | |
| Shares in demat | Rs 3,50,000 | Depository |
A financial institution she is dealing with — the FIU — needs to see her investments. Rather than collect four statements, she approves a consent request on an AA's app, naming what may be shared and with whom.
Each RTA receives the consent artefact through the AA, verifies it, digitally signs her folio information, and securely transmits it to the AA. The depository does the same for her demat holdings. The AA delivers the data to the FIU.
The AA does not keep a copy of her Rs 8,00,000 of folios afterwards, cannot claim the data as its own, and cannot use it to market anything to her. If she had not consented, no RTA would have released a rupee of information.
Why NISM asks about it
Chapter 6 (Basics of Registrars and Transfer Agents) covers the topic in section 6.5, "Financial Information Provider to Account Aggregator Network", immediately before the industry overview of CAMS and KFintech. It is examinable on definitions — who regulates an AA (RBI), what kind of entity it is (an NBFC), who acts as FIPs in securities markets (AMCs through RTAs, and Depositories) — and on the consent artefact and the ban on the AA storing or owning the data.
Common exam traps
- An Account Aggregator is regulated by RBI, as an NBFC — not by SEBI, even when it carries mutual fund data.
- In securities markets the FIPs are AMCs (through RTAs) and Depositories. The AA is not the FIP.
- Nothing moves without a valid consent artefact. Consent is electronic, as defined in RBI Master Guidelines.
- The FIP digitally signs the data, after verifying the consent artefact.
- The AA does not store the information, does not own it, and cannot use it for any purpose other than giving it to the customer or the consented FIU.
- An FIU is the recipient; an FIP is the source. The pair are easy to swap under time pressure.
Where this is taught
Free preparation for NISM Series II-BRelated terms
- Asset Management CompanyThe company that runs a mutual fund's schemes day to day — appointed by the sponsor or trustees with SEBI's approval, and paid a fee out of the scheme rather than a share of its profits.
- Consolidated Account StatementA single statement showing an investor's transactions and holdings across every scheme of every mutual fund in India, linked by PAN and issued monthly where there has been a transaction.
- Folio numberThe unique account number a fund house allots to an investor, under which the registrar holds that investor's units across every scheme of the fund, along with the bank mandate, address and signature.
- Registrar and Transfer AgentThe SEBI-registered agency that keeps the investor records of a mutual fund — processing purchases and redemptions, updating folios and unit capital, and issuing account statements.
- DepositoryAn institution that holds investors' securities in electronic form and provides the services needed to transact in them — the securities equivalent of a bank holding money rather than cash.
- Credit Information CompanyAn RBI-licensed company that collects borrowers' repayment records from lenders, stores them, and supplies credit information reports and credit scores to specified users.