FIDA (Financial Information Data Access) is an ambitious European initiative aimed at transforming data management and sharing in the financial sector, particularly in insurance. But what does this future directive really hide? What are the concrete benefits for policyholders? And what are the challenges for market players? Here’s how it works.
FIDA’s goal: to liberate financial data for the benefit of the customer
FIDA’s main challenge is simple: to make it easier for policyholders to access their own financial and insurance data, in a standardized, secure and interoperable format. Using this harmonized framework, customers will be able to share their information with authorized players to access personalized services, such as :
- Better monitoring of their financial assets
- Consolidated retirement balance sheets
- Credit consolidation opportunities
- Less efficient home and auto insurance comparisons.
At the same time, data users (fintechs, aggregators, advisors, etc.) will be able to develop innovative new services, provided they obtain the customer’s explicit consent.
Which products are covered by FIDA ?
The directive aims to gradually open up data in several key segments:
🏦Savings
FIDA will make it easier to consolidate savings (passbooks, securities accounts, life insurance), which will be invaluable for asset analysis or credit applications. But beware: this transparency must not become a barrier to access to credit for low-income households.
🧓 Retirement
It should also boost retirement savings, by enabling customers to better visualize their entitlements under supplementary contracts, which are often overlooked.
🏢Companies
Faster, more reliable solvency analysis thanks to consolidated data.
🚗 Property Casualty insurance (auto, habitation)
Comparisons between existing contracts and market offers will be easier, as will the verification of claims experience, a key point for insurers.
💳 Crédit
Borrowers will find it easier to identify credit restructuring opportunities.
📌 Please note: health and provident products are not concerned at this stage.
Numerous technical, legal and safety challenges remain
While the intention is clear, the practical implementation remains unclear :
- What data will actually be accessible? (administrative, warranties, claims, documents, etc.)
- What will be the API standards, business models and actual penalties for non-compliance?
- How can we guarantee verifiable consent and protection against data leakage, especially internationally ?
FIDA envisages a self-regulatory process, but the European Commission could impose standards within 18 months if no consensus emerges.
How does FIDA work?
FIDA will be rolled out gradually, over the long term. The aim is to enable policyholders to share their financial and insurance data (contracts, cover, claims, etc.) with approved companies, to access personalized services.
These data will be made available by the holders of information on the contracts taken out by the customer (banks, insurers, etc.).
For this to work, you will need to define :
- technical standards (formats, APIs),
- pricing rules,
- official approval for service providers authorized to access data.
But all this remains to be built, and could take several years. If market players fail to reach agreement within 18 months of implementation, the European Union may impose rules.
Finally, data security and customer consent will be key elements. It remains to be seen whether policyholders will be ready to centralize all their contracts on one platform – which will require a real change in mentality.
What are the implications for insurers ?
European insurers are already voicing their concerns:
- Technical complexity and high costs
- IT security risks
- Atteinte possible au principe de mutualisation en non-vie Possible infringement of the mutualization principle in non-life insurance
- New field of compliance to be mastered, with potential sanctions at stake
In the short term, pressure on information systems will be high, particularly in terms of identifying and structuring customer data on heterogeneous systems.
And for policyholders, a revolution or a mirage?
The actual use of FIDA will depend on customer acceptance. Will they agree to centralize and share all their sensitive data via an aggregator? Not sure. The culture of secrecy and caution is still deeply rooted.
Without strong education and solid protection of consent, usage could struggle to take off… despite the obvious benefits in terms of comparison, personalization and simplification of procedures.
Conclusion: a promising directive, but with a high implementation risk
FIDA opens up exciting prospects for a more transparent, user-centric financial sector that stimulates innovation. But there are many grey areas: technical standards, governance, security, accreditation of service providers, and so on.
In the absence of concrete answers and a truly protective framework for customers, the promise of free, useful and secure data could remain a dead letter.
🔎 To be continued :
- Formal adoption of the directive (date as yet unknown)
- Setting up technical working groups
- Definition of approvals, API standards, pricing and legal terms and conditions
💬 Is your organization ready for the FIDA revolution ?
Dive into the world of FIDA with Adlen Yousfi !
In this interview, he shares his knowledge of FIDA, its potential impacts and stresses the importance of anticipating changes in the insurance and financial sector.
Watch the interview here :
