Consumers and businesses could be given greater control over their financial data to help secure better deals, under a vision for open finance published today by the FCA.
According to the regulator, open finance will unlock the potential for people and businesses to share their financial data securely with a range of financial services providers, helping them access mortgages, investments, savings and pensions. This will give financial services firms a more complete picture of consumers’ and businesses’ finances, enabling more personalised and inclusive services, alongside more competitive pricing and stronger fraud protection.
The FCA will prioritise exploring how open finance can help SMEs improve access to credit and speed up loan applications. It will also examine how open finance can help consumers manage and improve access to mortgages.
David Geale, executive director of payments and digital finance at the FCA, said:
“Open finance has the potential to transform how people interact with financial services. By giving consumers and businesses more control over their own financial data, we can help them access credit, secure better deals and receive more customised support – while fuelling innovation, competition and supporting economic growth.”
To progress plans as quickly as possible, the FCA will engage with industry, consumer groups and fellow regulators this year to develop a range of practical open finance use cases. This will be done through the FCA’s Smart Data Accelerator and PRISM (Prioritisation and Real-world Insights Selection Matrix) Taskforce.
Adam Jackson, chief strategy officer at Innovate Finance, said:
“Just as open banking has sparked the growth of many UK fintechs, so open finance can power a new wave of innovation. By unlocking high quality data in a way that secures consumer trust, open finance can be a foundation for widespread adoption of agentic AI. We support collaboration between industry and the FCA to deliver the roadmap at pace, enabling agreement on priority use cases and datasets, and appropriate regulatory action to open these up to competition and innovation.”
The FCA will work with HM Treasury on options for a regulatory framework for open finance by the end of 2027. Firms will be supported to introduce open finance products sooner where they are already able to access data and appropriate permissions are in place.
Damien Burke, Head of Regulatory Practice at leading independent banking and credit advisory consultancy Broadstone, said:
“Open finance has the potential to transform how consumers access financial services and it is energising to see the FCA accelerating these plans. Leveraging this technology can create a market that enables institutions to have a clearer view of the consumers they support and drive economic growth via further innovation in the UK’s dynamic financial services sector.
“By enabling lenders to access a more complete, real-time view of a borrower’s financial position – including income patterns, spending behaviour and existing liabilities – affordability assessments can become far more accurate.
“This should help move the market away from blunt, one-size-fits-all criteria towards more tailored lending decisions that reflect how people actually earn and manage money today, particularly those with non-traditional or variable incomes.
“For consumers, this could translate into more realistic borrowing limits and better-matched products, reducing the risk of both overextension and unnecessary rejection. It also creates an opportunity for lenders to design more flexible solutions – whether that’s adjusting repayment structures, offering more responsive stress testing or identifying earlier interventions for those at risk of financial strain.
“The success of open finance in the mortgage market will depend on how effectively lenders embed these insights into underwriting processes while maintaining robust risk controls. If implemented well, it could support a more inclusive lending environment that balances innovation with responsible affordability.”
Sam Riordan, Executive Director, UK Banking & Payments at consultancy Capco, comments:
“Today’s announcement from the FCA, setting out its vision for Open Finance and giving consumers and businesses greater control over their financial data, is a very welcome move and an important signal that the agenda is moving from concept toward practical delivery. Building on the momentum created by CFIT’s inaugural Open Finance Coalition and its 2024 Blueprint, which helped galvanise priority use cases and implementation considerations for the UK market, this could unlock a far more complete view of a consumer or business’s financial position across savings, borrowing, investments, pensions and insurance, enabling more personalised propositions, better product suitability, more inclusive credit decisioning and stronger fraud prevention.
“The timing also feels right. Open banking is now more established, account-to-account payments continue to grow, and newer propositions such as variable recurring payments are gaining traction. Against that backdrop, expanding secure data sharing across a broader set of financial products is a natural next step. The FCA’s focus on high-value use cases such as SME lending and mortgages is well placed, where better access to verified, portable financial data could reduce friction in journeys, improve underwriting, and shorten decision times for customers and firms alike.
“That said, the scale of delivery should not be underestimated. While the opportunity is significant, the barriers are equally real, and in many cases structural. Success will depend not just on firms’ ability to expose and consume data through modern APIs, but on the industry aligning around common standards, consistent consent and permissioning models, clear governance and liability frameworks, and the right commercial incentives for both incumbents and new entrants to participate.
“Building trust will be fundamental. Open Finance will only scale if customers are confident their data is being shared securely, for a clear purpose, and in return for tangible benefits such as faster access to credit, more relevant products, or better financial outcomes.
“Ultimately, the prize is substantial – better customer outcomes, more innovation, and improved access to finance. But realising it will require genuine coordination across regulators, incumbents, fintechs, infrastructure providers and standards bodies.”
Henk Van Hulle, CEO, Open Banking Limited, said:
“The FCA’s Open Finance Roadmap is a significant step towards unlocking the full potential of smart data in the UK, giving consumers and businesses more control of their financial data and enabling them to access more personalised and inclusive services.
“As a blueprint for success, Open Banking has already demonstrated what can be achieved with the right foundations. At full adoption, automation alone is estimated to save businesses £3.8bn annually, and for lenders, real-time transaction data offers a greater understanding of affordability, helping to reduce unmet demand for SME lending and deliver benefits of up to £570 million each year.
“Open finance would extend the sharing of data to additional datasets in financial services, enabling even more advanced products and services through access to a broader range of data. As we move from vision to delivery, pace and clarity will be critical. What’s clear is the size of the opportunity and the need to accelerate progress towards an Open Finance ecosystem that delivers tangible benefits for businesses, consumers and the wider economy. “
