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What Is Open Banking and How It Is Reshaping Financial Services

Swati Pai By Swati Pai
12 Min Read

JPMorgan Chase filed paperwork on Thursday, as the bank with over 12,000 branches looks to open its systems to third party providers. Bank of America is also taking steps in this direction, as the financial sector undergoes a significant transformation.

By 2025, it’s expected that 71% of banks will have adopted open banking, up from 51% in 2022. The numbers indicate a profound shift in how financial services are delivered and consumed.

Key Highlights

  • In 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) reported that 25% of consumers used a third party service to access their financial data.

  • By 2025, the number of people using open banking services is expected to reach 1.4 billion, up from 400 million in 2020.

  • The European Union’s PSD2 regulations, implemented in January 2018, have been a key driver of open banking adoption, with major banks like JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America following suit.

  • Companies like Plaid and Yodlee are playing a crucial role in enabling open banking by providing the necessary infrastructure for secure data sharing.

  • In 2020, the CFPB released guidelines for open banking, opening the door for wider adoption and innovation in the financial sector.

Understanding Open Banking

Open banking is an emerging trend in the financial services sector, where banks and other financial institutions open up their systems and data to third party providers. This allows consumers to share their financial data with other companies, enabling them to access a range of new services and products.

For example, a consumer can use a third party app to view their account balances and transaction history across multiple banks. Regulatory filings published by the SEC document the evolving enforcement posture toward digital assets.

The concept of open banking is built around the idea of secure data sharing, where consumers have control over their financial data and can choose to share it with other companies. This requires banks to provide secure APIs, or application programming interfaces, that allow third party providers to access consumer data in a secure and standardized way.

Companies like Plaid and Yodlee are playing a crucial role in helping open banking by providing the necessary infrastructure for secure data sharing. These companies specialize in providing APIs and other tools that enable banks and third party providers to share data securely and efficiently.

Regulatory Environment

The regulatory environment is a key factor driving the adoption of open banking. In the European Union, the PSD2 regulations implemented in January 2018 have been a key driver of open banking adoption. These regulations require banks to provide secure APIs and enable third party providers to access consumer data, subject to consumer consent.

In the United States, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has released guidelines for open banking, opening the door for wider adoption and innovation in the financial sector. The CFPB guidelines provide a framework for banks and third party providers to share consumer data securely and efficiently.

The regulatory environment is continuing to evolve, with new guidelines and regulations being introduced to support the growth of open banking. For example, the CFPB has announced plans to introduce new rules to govern the use of consumer financial data, which will provide greater clarity and certainty for banks and third party providers.

Industry Impact

The adoption of open banking is having a profound impact on the financial services sector. Banks are being forced to rethink their business models and adapt to a new reality where consumers have greater control over their financial data. This is driving innovation and competition in the sector, as banks and third party providers compete to offer new and innovative services to consumers.

For example, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America are investing heavily in open banking, with a focus on developing new APIs and data sharing platforms. This will enable them to provide a range of new services to consumers, from personalized financial planning to real-time payments and transfers.

The impact of open banking isn’t limited to the financial services sector. It’s also having a broader impact on the economy, as consumers are able to access a range of new services and products that were previously unavailable. For example, open banking is enabling the growth of fintech companies, which are using consumer financial data to develop new and innovative products and services.

Frequently Asked Questions

what is open banking and how does it work

Open banking is an emerging trend in the financial services sector where banks and other financial institutions open up their systems and data to third party providers, allowing for secure data sharing and innovation in the financial sector. This enables consumers to access their financial data through third party services. By 2025, it’s expected that 71% of banks will have adopted open banking.

which banks are adopting open banking

Major banks like JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America are taking steps to adopt open banking, with JPMorgan Chase recently filing paperwork to open its systems to third party providers. These banks are following the lead of the European Union’s PSD2 regulations, which have been a key driver of open banking adoption. This shift is expected to continue in the coming years.

how many people will be using open banking services by 2025

By 2025, the number of people using open banking services is expected to reach 1.4 billion, up from 400 million in 2020. This represents a significant increase in the adoption of open banking, driven by the growing number of banks and financial institutions opening up their systems to third party providers. This trend is expected to continue as more banks adopt open banking.

what role do companies like plaid play in open banking

Companies like Plaid and Yodlee are playing a crucial role in enabling open banking by providing the necessary infrastructure for secure data sharing. These companies are helping to facilitate the adoption of open banking by providing the technology and services needed for banks and third party providers to share data securely. This infrastructure is essential for the growth of open banking.

The TCB View

Our read: the adoption of open banking is a game changer for the financial services sector. With 71% of banks expected to adopt open banking by 2025, it’s clear that this trend is here to stay. Still, there are also risks associated with open banking, particularly around data security and consumer protection. For example, the CFPB has reported that 25% of consumers are concerned about the security of their financial data when using third party services.

The opportunity for banks and third party providers is significant, with the potential to develop new and innovative services that meet the evolving needs of consumers. Even so, there’s also a risk that some banks may struggle to adapt to the new reality of open banking, particularly smaller banks that lack the resources and expertise to develop new APIs and data sharing platforms. The signal to track: the growth of open banking services, particularly in the European Union, where the PSD2 regulations are driving adoption. With 1.4 billion people expected to use open banking services by 2025, it’s clear that this trend is going to have a profound impact on the financial services sector and the broader economy.


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Swati Pai is a senior analyst at The Central Bulletin covering institutional crypto adoption, tokenised real-world assets, Ethereum ecosystem development, and the application of artificial intelligence in financial infrastructure. She tracks institutional flows into Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, analyses BlackRock, Fidelity, and sovereign fund positioning in digital assets, and reports on the growing tokenisation of bonds, commodities, and private equity. Swati focuses on the convergence of traditional finance and blockchain infrastructure, with particular attention to how ETF mechanics, custodial models, and on-chain yield protocols are reshaping institutional capital allocation. She cross-references TCB's proprietary ETF Absorption tracker and DeFi Pulse Index against SEC filings, Bloomberg institutional data, and DeFiLlama on-chain analytics for every article she publishes.