MF Central to tighten third-party data access, says CAMS MD Anuj Kumar

Investors will have more control over the data being shared, says CAMS MD

MF Central will give investors more control over what data the platform shares with third-party applications as it plans to address the issues raised by the mutual fund (MF) industry, said Anuj Kumar, managing director (MD) of CAMS, on Wednesday.

 

The MF platform, which is jointly operated by registrars and transfer agents (RTAs) CAMS and KFin Technologies, faced pressure from the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi) in September to stop sharing investor data directly with fintech applications.

Several online applications, especially those that offer guided MF investments and loans against MFs, access investor data through MF Central.

 

The platform provides the data by taking investor consent through one-time passwords (OTPs).

The issues with the current setup, MF officials told Business Standard in September, are data security and possibility of investors providing consent without realising.

 

MF distributors also have an issue with this method as it provides an easy route for fintechs to acquire their clients.

 

MF Central was set up in 2021 by CAMS and KFin — the only two RTAs of MFs in India — as a common platform for investors to execute financial as well as non-financial transactions across fund houses.

 

Given its association with the RTAs, it can pull out consolidated investment data of all MF investors.