Biza.io appoints Rob Hale as CTO

Consumer data right brand Biza.io has appointed Rob Hale as its chief technology officer.According to Biza.io, Hale has participated in the CDR since the 2017 Treasury Review into Open Banking and is a current member of the Data Standards Banking Advisory Committee.Previously, Hale was the head of banking at TrueLayer and the chief digital officer at the Regional Australia Bank.Rob Hale, CTO at Biza.io said, “Having worked with Biza.io extensively in the past, I’ve always been incredibly impressed by the team's expertise and innovative approach to solving CDR compliance for its customers.“In my new role as CTO, I’m looking forward to supporting the further expansion of the CDR across multiple sectors including banking, energy and telco alongside the talented Biza.io team.”Biza.io plans to have more than 50 specialists by the end of financial year 2023. Biza.io’s dedication to supporting its customers to enter the CDR has led to 550 percent customer growth in the past 18 months.Stuart Low, founder and CEO at Biza.io said, “We’re incredibly excited to have Rob join the Biza.io team. Rob is one of the foremost CDR experts and his depth of experience will be invaluable to Biza.io’s technology strategy as we scale to meet the demand for CDR enabled solutions.”To date, Biza.io has assisted in the delivery or verification of more than 50 percent of all active data holders with more than 18 million consumers having data sharing access enabled by Biza technology. It’s already working with some of the major energy companies to achieve compliance by the mandated deadline of November 2022.The CDR continues to expand as part of the government’s digital strategy. In August, Treasury recommended the CDR be extended beyond banking, energy and telecommunications to include the non-bank lending sector.It is also seeking comments on draft legislation to establish a framework for action initiation to allow third parties to handle actions on behalf of consumers with their consent — a capability the industry has been calling for since the introduction of the CDR.Founded in 2018, the Brisbane-based Biza.io helps banks, financial institutions, energy retailers and data economy participants navigate the highly regulated CDR ecosystem, and comply and innovate within the Australian data sharing landscape. In August this year, Biza.io announced it raised $7.5 million in a Series A funding round led by OIF Ventures and Jelix Ventures.