National Bank of Georgia signs cooperation agreement with Bank of Korea and KFTC on 2026 open finance program

The National Bank of Georgia signed a bilateral cooperation agreement with the Bank of Korea and the Korea Financial Telecommunications and Clearings Institute under a Knowledge Partnership Program focused on developing Georgia's open finance ecosystem. The 2026 program is dedicated to open banking and open finance as a competitive alternative to traditional payment infrastructure, with the aim of drawing on international experience and supporting the design of an appropriate regulatory, institutional and technical model for Georgia. Korean experts will work with the central bank on an open finance development concept covering analysis of Georgia's legal and regulatory environment, the target model and ecosystem architecture, a phased implementation plan, and approaches to data sharing, consumer rights protection, governance and technical standards. The project will also include working meetings with the Georgian Banking Association, commercial banks, fintech companies and other sector participants. In remarks during the meeting, National Bank of Georgia President Natia Turnava said open banking services had been used more than 9 million times in Georgia over the past 12 months and described open finance as the next stage of development, pointing to Korea's MyData model as a relevant international example. The program will continue through the year with interim seminars, capacity-building activities and a final event at which the study's findings and recommendations for Georgia's open finance ecosystem will be presented.