The Bank for International Settlements has published a BIS paper assessing how open finance is developing across jurisdictions and what early evidence suggests about its effects on competition, market entry and financial access. Drawing on cross-country data and academic research, it argues that customer-permissioned data sharing can help break data silos and reduce information asymmetries, but that outcomes depend heavily on standardised data-sharing protocols, interoperability and regulatory and governance frameworks that support secure connectivity and accountability. By 2024, 95 jurisdictions had some form of open banking or open finance policy framework in place, with adoption metrics rising where systems are operational. Among the G20 jurisdictions cited, Korea had 36 million subscribers and 194 million registered accounts as of December 2023, while Brazil recorded 55 open finance API calls per user per month in March 2025 and Australia around 13 API calls per capita in December 2025. Market entry indicators include over 4,500 third-party providers operating in the European Union and the United Kingdom as of December 2024, while a related UK switching initiative has supported over 11 million current account switches. Evidence discussed in the paper links open banking policies to higher fintech venture capital funding in the year after policy introduction and, in the UK, to SMEs forming new credit relationships with non-bank lenders. Remaining challenges cited include uneven technical standardisation, consumer trust and legacy systems, asymmetric data-sharing obligations between banks and non-banks including fintechs and big techs, the need for privacy and consumer protection safeguards beyond consent, the complexity of extending from open banking to wider product sets, cross-border interoperability constraints, and emerging debates on data access pricing and reciprocity.
Bank for International Settlements 2026-03-30
Bank for International Settlements reviews international open finance experience and highlights interoperability standards as a key enabler
The Bank for International Settlements has published a paper on global open finance, finding that customer‑permissioned data sharing can reduce information asymmetries when supported by strong standards, interoperability and governance. It notes rapid policy uptake and usage growth, including high adoption in Korea, Brazil and Australia and over 4,500 third‑party providers in the EU and UK, plus evidence of increased fintech venture capital funding and new non‑bank SME credit relationships. Persistent challenges include uneven technical standards, consumer trust, legacy systems, asymmetric data‑sharing, privacy, cross‑border interoperability and data access pricing and reciprocity.