Open Banking Limited outlines Future Entity vision and reports 15 million user connections in Open Banking Expo keynote

Open Banking Limited (OBL) published the script of a keynote delivered by its Trustee, Marion King, at Open Banking Expo 2025 in London, positioning UK open banking as having evolved from a competition remedy into an innovation enabler and calling for coordinated, standards-led collaboration to support wider smart data initiatives. The remarks also set out expectations for a transition to a “Future Entity” and a Long-Term Regulatory Framework, including a more equitable funding model and a broader scope beyond the current open banking perimeter. The speech pointed to scale and growth in adoption, citing over 15 million user connections and more than 30 million payments a month, with connections up 40% and payments up 50% since the previous year’s Expo. It highlighted public-sector usage, including the ability to pay taxes to HM Revenue and Customs via open banking, and linked the government’s Data Act passed earlier in 2025 to the expansion of “open” schemes beyond banking, arguing that interoperability and common standards are needed to avoid fragmentation. OBL presented its standard-setting and trust framework role, including convening the first industry-led commercial variable recurring payments scheme, as a template for future industry-delivered schemes with regulatory steer. Looking ahead, the keynote referenced the Financial Conduct Authority’s planned Open Finance Roadmap next year and welcomed the FCA’s Smart Data Sprint as a testing environment for safe data sharing. OBL also signalled it will soon publish its views and principles for developing a digital verification scheme and noted it has recently launched a green paper on how the open banking standard interacts with artificial intelligence and what changes could optimise its use.