ABA Tech Aide Plans Data Privacy Group

The brainchild of an American Bankers Association veteran would help ensure the privacy of financial information.

Kawika Daguio, the ABA's payment system and technology policy consultant, is leaving to form the Financial Information Protection Association. The nonprofit group would develop policies to protect banks and large merchants.

Mr. Daguio, 33, is to wrap up his work at the ABA on June 1. Before his seven years at the association, he was a financial program specialist with Financial Management Service, the cash management arm of the Treasury Department.

At the ABA, Mr. Daguio has lobbied Congress on financial services technology matters. When the Financial Services Technology Consortium was formed in 1993, he helped ensure support from the Department of Energy because of the consortium's close work with national laboratories.

"I decided I can leverage those experiences and focus more on the stuff I really care about," Mr. Daguio said.

He said he has hired a lawyer for the information protection association and is working to develop an administrative support staff.

The association's membership is meant to include any organization that holds financial information needing to be protected, for example, merchants. The association also will welcome individual professionals.

Mr. Daguio said the new association will join the financial services tech consortium and he will continue to work toward widespread adoption of the latter's electronic-check initiative.

"We are helping with the routing numbers to help e-check work the way everyone wants it to," Mr. Daguio said. "It would take it from the pilot stage to a practical payments system."

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