Overview
- The UK Financial Conduct Authority, which published the plan Tuesday, outlined a shift from open banking to open finance that expands secure data sharing into investments, savings, pensions, mortgages and small‑business credit by 2030.
- The regulator named two early priorities that affect people and firms most directly, helping small businesses get credit decisions faster and giving homebuyers better tools to compare and manage mortgages.
- Through 2026 the FCA will run Smart Data Accelerator sprints and a PRISM taskforce, publish a discussion paper on the first scheme in the fourth quarter, and then develop regulatory framework options with HM Treasury in 2027.
- The FCA said wider data sharing could lead to more tailored services, keener pricing and stronger fraud protection, and it cited studies that estimate gains of up to 1–1.5% of UK GDP by 2030 or about £7.4bn a year, depending on adoption.
- The UK is pressing ahead as the EU’s Financial Data Access law proceeds through trilogue and the US data-rights rule faces legal limbo, and the plan builds on open banking that the FCA says now serves about 17 million users.