The FCA has set out its open finance vision, promising greater data control for consumers and SMEs. Here, we bring you reactions from across the industry
The UK‘s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published its vision for open finance, setting out an ambition to give consumers and businesses greater control over their financial data and unlock more personalised, competitive and inclusive financial services.
Per the vision, people and businesses will be able to share their financial data securely across a broader range of providers, spanning mortgages, investments, savings, pensions and credit. Financial services firms would also gain a more complete picture of their customers’ finances, enabling more tailored product offerings, competitive pricing and stronger fraud protection.
The regulator said it will prioritise two specific use cases: improving SME access to credit and accelerating loan applications, and helping consumers manage and access mortgages more effectively. These were singled out as areas where open finance could deliver the most tangible near-term benefits.
David Geale, Executive Director for 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.”
The FCA will engage with industry, consumer groups and fellow regulators throughout 2026 to develop practical use cases through its Smart Data Accelerator and PRISM Taskforce, and will work with HM Treasury on a formal regulatory framework by end-2027. Firms already able to access relevant data will be supported to introduce open finance products ahead of that deadline.
Building on open banking’s foundations
For much of the industry, the announcement lands as a natural progression to what open banking already offers.
Innovate Finance‘s Chief Strategy Officer Adam Jackson 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.”
For Capco‘s Executive Director, UK Banking & Payments, Sam Riordan, the success and growing maturity of account-to-account payments and VRPs is evidence the ecosystem can now take on something broader in the form of open finance.
He tells Payment Expert the FCA’s decision to focus initial use cases in SME lending and mortgages is “well placed,” adding this is “where better access to verified, portable financial data could reduce friction in journeys, improve underwriting, and shorten decision times for customers and firms alike.”
Mark Fieldhouse, Chief Revenue Officer at Form3, tells Payment Expert the announcement is “a wake-up call for any bank still running payments on legacy infrastructure.”
An open finance ecosystem demands millisecond API response times, real-time scalability and the ability to update systems without multi-month change programmes – none of which monolithic architecture can deliver.
Fieldhouse pointed to ISO 20022 as the critical data foundation and cloud-native infrastructure which makes agility and resilience possible at the same time. “The UK has a genuine opportunity to lead globally on open finance, but it requires banks and fintechs to invest in modern infrastructure to deliver on it,” he says.
Trust is critical
Infrastructure challenges aside, a deeper question running through industry reaction is whether consumers and businesses will actually engage.
In comments made to Payment Expert, Sigurður Guðmundsson, Chief Commercial Officer at emerchantpay, acknowledges the commercial opportunity – a deeper view of customers’ financial position could improve checkout experiences and expand SME access to finance – but was clear about the condition attached: “Consumers and businesses will only share their data where there is a clear benefit and confidence in how it is used. Open finance will only succeed if it delivers real value – not just more data.”
Capco’s Riordan set out some structural prerequisites as a means to secure trust: common API standards, consistent consent and permissioning models, clear governance and liability frameworks, and commercial incentives sufficient to bring incumbents and new entrants into the same ecosystem.
“Building trust will be fundamental,” he says. “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.”
He concludes: “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.”
