Open Banking

The banking industry has recently seen a new trend emerge that has the potential to transform the banking industry: Open Banking. It provides a secure framework for the exchange of financial data, so that new products can be built for consumers and businesses that solve everyday problems or bring added value to our lives.

Open Banking is a standard that allows third-party payment service providers and other financial service providers to access personal and financial information from banks and financial institutions. This is achieved via an application programming interface (API), which enables third-party developers to build applications and services that interact with a bank's customer data and systems, such as transaction history or account balances.

The APIs allow the posting or creation of transactions without the need for actual funds to be transferred. APIs can also look at a consumer's transaction history to help identify relevant products and services that personalise the customer experience.

Note that before payment service providers can use Open Banking APIs to access customer details, the customer must first grant access for the sharing of their personal information - usually via an online consent form following a terms and conditions agreement. 

Open Banking continues to deliver major benefits for developers, businesses, banks, and customers. Its scope has expanded far beyond its early focus on payments and account aggregation:

• For banks – Open Banking APIs have evolved into Financial-grade API (FAPI) standards built on OAuth 2.0, providing stronger security and interoperability. These APIs not only modernise legacy systems but also enable banks to collaborate with fintechs, e-commerce platforms, and other industries through embedded finance and banking-as-a-service (BaaS) models. This means that non-financial apps—from Shopify to WhatsApp—can now directly integrate banking services via secure APIs.
• For customers – Consent remains central, but the experience has matured. Instead of static online consent forms, many platforms now use biometric authentication and self-sovereign identity (SSI) wallets, giving users greater control. Smart consent management allows customers to grant time-limited and granular permissions—for example, authorising a budgeting app to access only last month’s transactions, or permitting a retailer to process a one-off payment. Screen scraping, once a fallback method, has been deprecated in most regions in favor of secure, standardised API access.
• For security and trust – Open Banking ecosystems now require AI-driven fraud detection by default. Real-time monitoring helps protect both customers and financial institutions from identity theft, payment fraud, and unauthorised access.

Overall, Open Banking in 2025 is less about simply exposing data and more about enabling a secure, intelligent, and embedded financial ecosystem. It empowers banks to innovate faster, businesses to deliver new services, and customers to enjoy greater convenience, control, and safety.

Open Banking may have started as a bank-led initiative, but the ecosystem has expanded into a much more diverse and collaborative landscape. Traditional banks remain important players, particularly in safeguarding sensitive financial data and ensuring compliance with rigorous global standards. Evolving regulations such as PSD3 in the EU and the U.S. Open Banking rules introduced in 2024 have strengthened requirements not only for banks but also for fintech providers, ensuring consistent levels of security and consumer protection across the industry.

At the same time, customers are increasingly turning to fintech-first solutions—such as neobanks, digital wallets, and payment apps—as their primary financial touchpoints. These services now plug directly into bank data via standardised APIs without relying on outdated methods like screen scraping, which has been largely phased out worldwide.

For financial institutions, Open Banking APIs still provide a powerful way to modernise legacy systems, but they also serve as a gateway to partnerships with fintechs and non-bank platforms. Through embedded finance and emerging Web APIs (such as WebGPU and WebML), web applications can deliver performance and functionality once reserved for native apps, reducing the traditional advantages of being a dedicated mobile banking platform. Even offerings like Google Maps integration, once seen as exclusive to Android, are no longer defining differentiators.

Looking ahead, Open Banking is now viewed as a mature global framework, with momentum shifting toward Open Finance, which broadens access to investment, insurance, and pension data, and Open Data, which extends interoperability beyond banking into wider sectors. Additionally, AI-driven predictive banking is becoming a core feature of many Open Banking APIs, enabling real-time insights and personalised financial guidance that reshape how customers interact with their money.

Businesses continue to gain significant advantages from Open Banking, and the opportunities extend far beyond simple data sharing:

• Streamlined payments and reduced costs – Modern payment rails, including instant payment networks built on standards like HTTP/3 and QUIC, have dramatically improved speed and reliability. Companies can now process transactions in real time, reducing settlement delays and operational costs.
• Deeper financial insights with AI – Where Open Banking once focused on providing access to account balances and transaction history, today’s APIs integrate with AI-driven predictive analytics. Businesses can now benefit from automated cash flow forecasting, smart budgeting, and real-time anomaly detection, empowering them to make faster and more informed financial decisions.
• Cross-industry collaboration – Open Banking APIs still help banks modernise legacy systems, but the ecosystem has evolved into Open Finance (covering savings, loans, pensions, and investments) and even Open Data across industries. This shift allows businesses well beyond traditional finance—such as e-commerce platforms and mobility apps—to offer embedded financial services like payments, lending, or insurance directly within their customer experiences.

Overall, Open Banking represents a mature and integrated framework. For businesses, this means greater agility, new revenue opportunities, and the ability to deliver personalised, data-driven services that rival the capabilities of native financial applications.

Blueberry specialises in building custom software solutions for businesses of all sizes, and we have recently completed a big software project that required Open Banking programming.

Our team of experienced developers can work with you to understand your business needs and develop custom solutions that leverage the power of Open Banking APIs.

Whether you need help integrating your systems with third-party providers, streamlining your payment processes, or developing new applications that take advantage of Open Banking, we can help.

In addition, we can provide guidance on regulatory compliance and ensure that your systems are secure and protected from data breaches.

If you're interested in exploring the opportunities offered by Open Banking, please get in touch. We can provide you with a free consultation and help you to identify the best approach for your business.