Data Sharing @ UOB

“Industry research predicts that organisations will use data sharing mechanisms as one of the tools to grow their businesses and the wider economy. For banks and ecosystem partners, often there are too many considerations when embarking on data sharing.

The issuance of this Data Sharing Handbook is timely, as it gives best practice structured guidance to the banks in ensuring safe and trusted sharing of data in order to improve their offerings across the banking services.”

Richard Lowe
Group Chief Data Officer
UOB Limited

What is Data Sharing?

Data sharing refers to the transfer, or granting, of governed access to data between entities for the achievement of mutual benefits. Data sharing helps to broaden the data pool available to an organisation for better decision making and potential to develop targeted products, accelerates the creation of value from data that may generate new revenue streams, streamlines operations and processes and improves risk management in the areas of financial crime and fraud detection.

Data sharing is a multi-disciplinary process which involves not only enabling technology, but also adhering to business and legal considerations globally. At UOB, our Enterprise Data Governance Team at the Data Management Office, along with various business and specific control units in the Bank govern this process to ensure that we manage our risks and stay compliant with the various regulations.

In Singapore, the Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC) administers and enforces the Personal Data Protection Act 2012 (PDPA). This act protects individuals’ personal data while balancing institutions’ needs to use data for legitimate purposes. The illustration below, adapted from PDPC’s Guide to Data Sharing, demonstrates how data sharing can occur in various forms in the financial industry:

Our approach on data sharing with external process:
A Four Step Process

UOB was recently awarded the Data Protection Trustmark (DPTM) Certification, an award developed by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) that assesses an organisation’s standard of data protection policies, processes and practises.

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Cross-border Data: A risk-based approach

As a Bank that operates across multiple countries, being well-informed about global regulations on data transfers is crucial.

Financial institutions, especially those with multi-national operations such as UOB, require the ability to move data beyond borders. This includes information that is used to support our customers in their daily banking transactions and to meet our risk and regulatory requirements.

At the same time, the regulatory landscape around the protection and sharing of data across the globe is getting more complex. As we deal with large amounts of data, we must take a ‘risk-based’ approach where individual data sets are measured against their own risk levels.

Enabling our colleagues to share data responsibly and safely

The sharing of data across our business units enable us to measure progress, manage risk and develop innovative initiatives to stay competitive.

At UOB, we are committed to safeguarding our customers’ assets and data. The Enterprise Data Architecture and Governance (EDAG) at UOB is a platform that was designed to consolidate data from various source systems across the Bank.

The data stored in this centralised platform is then used to address a myriad of business needs. The needs can range from identifying key business opportunities for the Bank’s growth to even the uncovering of fraudulent or anti-money laundering activities.

A comprehensive guide to facilitate data sharing between banks and ecosystem partners

Data sharing between organisations has become increasingly important as it facilitates industry wide innovation and increases business agility. When deciding whether to share data, organisations should consider, among other things, the intended purposes of the sharing, as well as the potential benefits and risks that may arise from the sharing. To facilitate this, a comprehensive guide has been developed to guide organisations in this process.

The ABS (Association of Banks in Singapore) Standing Committee on Data Management (SCDM) was established in November 2019 involving 18 member Banks, and is currently chaired by UOB Group Chief Data Officer, Mr Richard Lowe.

The SCDM enables effective use of data by setting data standards and industry best practices, promotes collaboration and guidance on data management topics and works closely with MAS and other Government agencies to drive data-driven innovation.

One of the initiatives spearheaded by the SCDM involved development of the Data Sharing Handbook for Banks and Non-Bank Ecosystem Partners (“Handbook”).

The Handbook is a guide for Banks and their ecosystem partners to adopt a standardised approach for the sharing of data, in line with existing regulations, and with the aim of encouraging greater collaborations in the banking sector.

The Handbook was published by the ABS on 30 August 2021. The handbook demystifies banking data and fosters purpose-driven, secure and lawful data sharing between banks and ecosystem partners. It builds upon the IMDA’s (Infocomm Media Development Authority) Trusted Data Sharing Framework and has been written with a sharper focus on risk management considerations relating to banking data.

UOB leverages the best practices incorporated in the Handbook, together with its internal guidelines on information security, data governance, data privacy and protection, cross-border data management, data ethics, client confidentiality, and code of conduct to ensure we drive innovative use of our data sets, whilst ensuring customer confidentiality and privacy.

Download Data Sharing Handbook