No sooner had the term open banking become established than the approach moved on. Talk is now of open finance.
Many countries, such as Australia and South Korea, already incorporate the broader scope of open finance data within their regulations.1 Open finance goes beyond the payment account information associated with open banking to include “read” access to entire financial footprints, which may cover product, pricing and contract information for savings accounts, mortgages, pensions, insurance, loans, investments and stocks.
In this new environment, the payment initiation services of “write” access are but a subset of transaction initiation services, which may include opening a bank account, buying a stock, paying by loan, or switching to a cheaper loan. Other essential services, such as telecommunications and energy, now sit alongside banking.