BIS Innovation Hub work on open finance

Against this backdrop, awareness is increasing that large "walled data gardens" may not be optimal for competition or for consumer and business outcomes. This has led to increased advocacy for "open data", with a focus on giving customers more control over who can access their data and under what conditions.

In the context of banking, "open data" has translated into "open banking" – empowering customers to authorise banking institutions to share their personal data and payment account access with third parties via application programming interfaces (APIs). This promotes greater access to finance, expands credit, offers affordable and alternative payment methods, and enhances financial inclusion in a more open and competitive market.

As technology-driven business models continue to make finance more accessible, inclusive and competitive by connecting and analysing data and by enabling new payment methods, open banking is evolving into "open finance". Open finance covers a broader range of financial products, such as loans, mortgages and insurance. To achieve widespread adoption, open finance requires overcoming challenges through the development of harmonised technical protocols, standards and infrastructure.

Around 70 jurisdictions are exploring open finance, each with varying regulatory approaches and progress. Under the theme of open finance, the BIS Innovation Hub aims to study trends linking open finance, open banking and open data, while exploring innovative ways within technical projects to enhance infrastructure such as digital identities, promoting interoperability, and facilitating cross-border open finance implementations, including interoperable APIs, technical protocols and trust frameworks.