Bryan Zhang • 2nd • Co-Founder and Executive

Nov 19, 24 Co-Founder and Executive Director of Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) | Co-Founder of Fii | Strategic Advisor, Independent Chair & NED

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1. Global expansion, local differences

Open banking is now established globally, with open finance gaining traction but remaining at a relatively early stage.

I still have to take issue with this prevailing comment that Open Banking is underway. I submit this is due to subsequent addition of payments into the population of Open Banking transactions.

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Today, the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, Cambridge Judge Business School publishes the Global State of Open Banking and Open Finance Report with the support of the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

This empirical study examines 95 jurisdictions around the world which have either already implemented some form of legislative or/and regulatory frameworks for hashtag#OpenBanking hashtag#OpenFinance or in the process of doing so.

Among 82 jurisdictions that we classified according to whether they have mandated data sharing or/and hashtag#API standards, or have adopted a more voluntary approach, 54 were primarily regulation-driven and 28 were largely market-led.

Regulation-driven jurisdictions, especially those which are mandating both data sharing and API standards, on average have gone faster and further on their Open Banking & Open Finance journey than market-driven countries. The most prevailing policy objective for Open Banking & Open Finance is *competition*, with 44 jurisdictions identified that as the primary objective.

While 60 jurisdictions have already implemented legislation or regulations related to Open Banking, only 16 jurisdictions have passed relevant laws or regulations implementing Open Finance.

You can download the full report via: https://lnkd.in/efQERP-7
Highlights

The main findings of the report include:

1. Global expansion, local differences

Open banking is now established globally, with open finance gaining traction but remaining at a relatively early stage. Frameworks differ significantly across jurisdictions based on each one’s policy priorities, financial market structures, and levels of digital readiness.

2. Regulation is coming, but slowly

Two primary approaches have emerged – 54 jurisdictions follow a regulation-led model, while 28 jurisdictions are primarily market-driven. Notably, 18 jurisdictions with market-driven approaches are now planning or developing regulatory frameworks, signalling a gradual move towards increased oversight.

3. Regional trends: clustering of approaches

Regulatory approaches show regional clustering. For instance, Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East and North Africa predominantly follow regulation-led models, while Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia Pacific largely adopt market-driven approaches.

4. Competition first, innovation second

among 44 jurisdictions, fostering competition in financial services stands as the leading goal of open banking and open finance initiatives. Innovation, digital, and financial inclusion objectives are also common but secondary aims in most jurisdictions.

5. Regulation broadens data horizons

Regulation-led jurisdictions tend to have broader data coverage across 6 key categories (payments, general insurance, savings and investment, mortgages, consumer lending, and pensions) compared to market-driven ones. This relationship suggests that regulatory oversight can positively influence the scope of data sharing.

6. Small steps toward Open Finance

Both regulation-led and market-driven models show early but limited progress in integrating additional financial sectors, such as open insurance. Six regulation-led and three market-driven jurisdictions have extended frameworks into these new sectors, reflecting both the ambition and the challenges of fully implementing open finance.

7. Adapting to future needs

Both models are expected to evolve in response to technological advances, customer expectations, and regulatory developments. The next phase is likely to see a further shift toward open finance, with certain jurisdictions exploring open data frameworks to support cross-sectoral data sharing and economic collaboration.

This report serves as a critical resource for those shaping the future of financial data sharing, providing a foundation for strategic decisions and the design of governance frameworks that support innovation, security, and financial inclusion across global markets.

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And the CCAF team also developed a digital tracker illustrating the current landscape of open banking and open finance which you can find via: https://lnkd.in/eyf45RRc

Many thanks to Sanya Juneja (Principal Researcher) Bill R. Dana Salman Alan Ainsworth Pavle Avramović Hakan Eroglu Jon Frost Helene O. Douglas Arner Maria Fernandez-Vidal Lauren Middleton for your invaluable contribution as well as the support of Rebecca Waghorn Keith Barnes Hunter Sims Anton Dek Yvona Duncan Ella Cope-Brown Sara Coupe Aslı ERGÜN KONUK & many more.

Ariadne Plaitakis Sophie Sirtaine Harish Natarajan David Symington Charlotte Crosswell OBE Janine Hirt Adam Jackson Eric Duflos Ivo Jeník Jean Pesme Ahmed Dermish Francesca Brown Klaus Prochaska Hugo Coelho Jan van Vonno Richard Koch Richard Mould Ghela Boskovich