CDR for Non-Bank Lenders: A Transformation, Not Just Compliance

The real work starts before IT writes a line of code

CDR is not a technology-only challenge. Successful rollouts in other sectors have shown that cross-functional ownership is the make or break.

Your CDR delivery team should span:

Product: Own accurate product reference data and publish updates.
Technology: Integrate APIs, register, harden security, run consent flows, monitor uptime.
Legal and Compliance: Interpret the rules, define refusal grounds, structure liability and privacy safeguards.
Operations and CX: Handle complaints, deletions, dashboard queries, and break-fix runbooks.
Risk and Cybersecurity: Threat model, incident response, audit readiness.
Procurement and Finance: Vendor selection, commercials, and budget tracking.

Complying requires inter-dependent work across product, technology, cyber, risk, legal, compliance and procurement.

What to expect from the project

It will feel like a product launch
You will publish data to a market and will be judged on reliability, speed, and clarity. Treat it like any digital channel launch with SLAs and NPS.

Cross-functional teams are essential
At least five departments will contribute. Technology cannot carry this alone.

Operational readiness matters as much as technical readiness
Consent withdrawals, correction requests, and joint-account approvals demand well-drilled service teams and clear playbooks.

Testing with real use cases is not optional
Validate data correctness, consent expiry flows, and edge cases such as disputed transactions and secondary users.

Expect third-party dependencies
You will depend on the CDR Register, accredited recipients, and possibly multiple vendors. Build in time for integration issues and security reviews.

Risks to neutralise early

Data quality drift: Create owners for every field in product and consumer datasets and run daily checks.
Consent friction: Keep copy plain and consistent with CX standards and test with real customers.
Incident response gaps: Define thresholds, contacts, and regulator comms before day one.
Vendor lock-in without controls: Keep exit clauses, data portability, and observable metrics in the contract.

Where the upside is

CDR can do more than reduce compliance risk. Lenders that lean in can:

Streamline onboarding with verified banking data instead of PDFs and screenshots.
Tighten credit decisions with real transaction insights and faster income verification.
Launch targeted products based on real customer behaviour and eligibility.
Win digital borrowers who expect instant data sharing and clear control.
Build trust through transparent consent and visible privacy safeguards.

What good looks like on day one

Clean product catalogue with automated updates and versioning.
Reliable consent and authorisation flows that pass negative tests.
Dashboards that show active consents, expiries, and simple withdrawal.
Monitoring that tracks uptime, latency, refusal reasons, and complaint volumes.
A support team that can resolve issues on first contact for most scenarios.

Six-month countdown: what to do before go-live

Treat the next six months as a focused readiness sprint. Lock scope to what you will expose on day one, assign accountable owners, and stand up a simple cadence that forces decisions every week. Prioritise the foundations that move risk off the table: security profile, consent and authorisation journeys, product data accuracy, observability, and record keeping. Build thin, testable slices and measure reliability, latency, accuracy, and CX from the start so issues surface early.

Use controlled pilots to prove real customer flows with an accredited recipient like Fiskil, then harden based on what breaks. Rehearse incident response with legal and CX in the room, validate refusal reasons and regulator comms, and train support on withdrawals and corrections. If you are partnering, lock SLAs, exit options, and integration checkpoints now. Fiskil can compress this window with a managed Data Provider, Product Portal, and coordinated pilot support so your team focuses on operations, not plumbing.

Use this moment to level up

CDR is a chance to build a digital foundation that supports faster lending decisions, sharper product design, and greater trust.

Those who treat CDR as a strategic capability will set the pace in non-bank lending.

How Fiskil helps
Fiskil provides secure, scalable, standards-aligned infrastructure for CDR. Our managed Data Provider platform and Product Portal reduce delivery risk, accelerate testing, and simplify operations so your teams can focus on growth.