Open banking was supposed to disrupt everything. Data access. Integration. Competitive dynamics. It did. But it wasn't the disruption anyone expected. Open banking opened up account data: balances, transactions, and identity. Third parties could read a customer's financial life.
Open finance is broader. It opens up account data plus lending, credit, investments, insurance, and pensions. Everything financial can be shared with third parties. Everything can be bundled, combined, and accessed through open APIs. The market leaders are already preparing. The question is whether you are.
Open Banking to Open Finance
Open banking happened in the U.S. relatively quietly (compared to Europe, where it was mandated). Fintechs built on top of open banking APIs. Account aggregation became table stakes. Some fintechs built businesses on the back of it. But the real opportunity was always broader. Why just read account data? Why not also read the credit profile? Investment holdings? Insurance coverage?
Open finance is the answer. It's one API layer for all of a customer's financial information. In 2026, open finance is moving from a niche advantage to a competitive requirement.
What this Means for You
If you're a fintech today, open finance affects you in two ways:
- First, as a data source. Imagine being able to see a customer's complete financial picture: income, expenses, investments, liabilities, and insurance. That's a different level of insight than just bank account access. Better underwriting. Better recommendations. Better product experience.
- Second, as a distribution channel. Imagine being integrated into a platform that aggregates financial services. You're no longer fighting for user attention. You're one option in a suite of services the user already trusts. Both of these become possible at scale with open finance.
Preparing for Open Finance
If you're not already thinking about open finance, here's the playbook:
Audit your data dependencies. What financial data do you currently need? Account data? Credit data? Investment data? Can you currently access it? How fragmented is your data pipeline?
Open finance APIs will eventually consolidate these sources. One API call instead of three. Faster integration. Better data freshness.
Plan for data consolidation. If you're currently integrated with multiple data sources, start thinking about how you'll consolidate through open finance. You probably won't need all the integrations you have today.
Rethink your competitive positioning. In an open finance world, the winner isn't always the platform with the most data. It's the platform with the best product on top of the data. Use open finance to access data faster so you can focus on product. Don't just consume. Think about whether you should be a provider too. If you have financial data that other platforms need, open finance creates an opportunity to monetize it.
The Timing Pressure
Open finance isn't theoretical anymore. The infrastructure is getting built. The APIs are getting standards. The ecosystem is consolidating around common data models. The 2026 timeline matters because that's when open finance goes from early adoption to early majority. By late 2026, not having an open finance strategy will be noticeable.
By 2027, it'll be a gap.
The Payment Angle
Here's where payment and open finance intersect: if you can see a customer's complete financial picture, you can make smarter payment recommendations. You know their income. You know their liabilities. You know their spending patterns. That data flows into smarter payment instructions, better timing, and better rails.
A customer with $500K in annual income and zero liabilities might get instant settlement. The same transaction from a customer with high debt load might get standard settlement with fraud checks. This isn't discriminatory. It's financial prudence. Open finance enables this sophistication.
Getting Ready
Start mapping your current data integrations. Where are you reading data? How often? What's the latency? Then start exploring open finance platforms. Which ones cover the data you need? What's the integration timeline? What's the cost model?
You don't need to migrate immediately. But you should be evaluating. The migration window is 2026. Don't wait until 2027 to realize you're behind. Open finance is coming. The sooner you prepare, the sooner you'll be able to move fast when the opportunities emerge.