The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has set out plans for open finance to give consumers and businesses more control over their financial data.
The proposals would allow people to share data securely with providers in order to access products such as mortgages, savings, investments and pensions, to improve personalisation, pricing and fraud protection.
The FCA says it will focus on how open finance can help small businesses access credit more easily and speed up loan applications, as well as support consumers with mortgages.
It will work with industry, consumer groups and regulators to develop practical use cases, alongside HM Treasury on a regulatory framework by 2027, while supporting firms to introduce products sooner where possible.
FCA executive director of payments and digital finance David Geale says: “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.”
Innovate Finance chief strategy officer Adam Jackson says: “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.”
