The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published a vision for open finance that would give consumers and businesses greater control over their financial data.
Under the proposals, individuals and businesses would be able to share their financial data securely with a wider range of providers, potentially improving access to mortgages, investments, savings and pensions.
Financial services firms would gain a more complete picture of their customers’ finances, enabling more personalised and inclusive services, competitive pricing and stronger fraud protection.
The regulator has indicated it will prioritise exploring how open finance could help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) access credit more easily and speed up loan applications, as well as examining how it could improve consumer access to mortgages.
To advance the initiative as rapidly as possible, the FCA plans to engage with industry, consumer groups and fellow regulators throughout 2026 to develop practical open finance use cases. This work will be carried out via the FCA’s Smart Data Accelerator and the PRISM (Prioritisation and Real-world Insights Selection Matrix) Taskforce. The regulator also intends to collaborate with HM Treasury on options for a regulatory framework for open finance by the end of 2027. Where firms already have the ability to access data and appropriate permissions are in place, they will be supported to bring open finance products to market sooner.
FCA executive director for payments and digital finance David Geale 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.”
Innovate Finance 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. 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.”
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