Open Banking Limited (OBL) is marking the seventh anniversary of the Second Payment Services Directive (PSD2) being implemented in the UK. In conjunction with the CMA Order, this made open banking a regulatory requirement in the UK.
There are now over 11.7 million active users of open banking-enabled products in the UK, and over 22.1 million open banking payments made monthly, providing consumers and businesses with a simple, secure way to move, manage, and make more of their money.
2025 is a pivotal year in open banking, with the Data (Use and Access) Bill progressing through Parliament, paving the way for a long-term regulatory framework (LTRF) for open banking, and the evolution into open finance. PSD2 was implemented in the UK on 13 January 2018 and paved the way for open banking in the UK. Over the course of the past seven years, OBL has facilitated its implementation through the Open Banking Standard and helped to foster an ecosystem worth £4 billion to the economy.
Open banking has transformed the payments and data landscape, powering new ways for consumers and businesses to move, manage and make more of their money.
The number of users has shown strong growth over the last seven years, with:
- 11.7 million regular users of open banking-powered technology.
- 1.7 billion application programming interface (API) calls per month.
- 22.13 million open banking-powered payments in November 2024, 3.12m of which were variable recurring payments.
- Nearly 400 million successful payments since 2018.
We now have the opportunity to go further. The Data (Use and Access) Bill has signalled clear intent from the Government about the importance of building on open banking’s data sharing principles to deliver a smart data economy worth an estimated £10 billion over the next 10 years. The Bill will enable the necessary Secondary Legislation to be introduced which is needed to establish the long-term regulatory framework for open banking, putting it on a commercially sustainable footing.
It also allows for additional smart data schemes – open banking is the first smart data scheme in existence – with the next evolution being open finance which encompasses a wider range of financial products and services, such as investments, insurance, and pensions, and beyond into other key economic sectors such as energy and telecoms.
Alongside the Bill, open banking will play an important role in carrying forward the Government’s National Payments Vision, fostering competition, innovation and consumer choice in the payments landscape.
2025 is a pivotal year as we transition to a new entity, move beyond being a competition remedy, and look to harness commercial incentives to build on our successes and create a smart data economy.
Marion King, Chair and Trustee of OBL, said: “As we reflect on the last seven years, we should be collectively proud of the financial innovation and the benefits open banking delivers to consumers and businesses, as well as the wider economy. We’re at a pivotal stage in the evolution of open banking, with legislation and regulation coming forward that will not only put it on a commercially sustainable footing fit for the long term, but also move us towards open finance and other smart data schemes.”
Henk Van Hulle, Chief Executive Officer of OBL, said: “Open banking is just seven years young, and much has been achieved. Adoption continues to grow month-on-month, with over 11m active users in November 2024. The UK pioneered with this financial innovation, and our Standard keeps on providing a blueprint for many jurisdictions across the globe. 2024 saw an unprecedented growth and delivery. 2025 will be another step change. This year will see the expansion of open banking into the next generation of open finance and data. UKs thought leadership on data usage and access puts the UK at the forefront of data and payments innovation globally. We will therefore have a keen eye on interoperability, as the industry looks to enable world class cross-border data sharing.”
