FCA Announces Partnership to Accelerate Delivery of Open Finance

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced a major new partnership and the launch of two TechSprints to fast-track the UK’s transition towards open finance, marking a significant step in its commitment to drive digital innovation across financial services.

The initiative follows the FCA’s January letter to the Prime Minister, in which it pledged to use its powers to accelerate open finance and explore its potential benefits, particularly in supporting small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) lending.

As part of this strategy, the FCA has launched its Smart Data Accelerator, an extension of its regulatory sandbox designed to test real-world applications of open finance. The Accelerator will enable participating firms to trial data-sharing use cases securely and responsibly, helping to build consumer trust while promoting innovation.

To facilitate this, the FCA is partnering with Raidiam, a global leader in data-sharing technology, whose testing environment underpins open finance and open insurance frameworks in Brazil. The collaboration will allow UK firms to simulate and test open finance models in a controlled environment that mirrors live conditions.

The FCA has also commissioned KPMG and Europe Economics to assess the potential benefits of open banking and open finance for consumers and the wider financial ecosystem. Their report highlights both opportunities and regulatory trade-offs, noting that robust data governance, technological capability, and consumer protection must evolve in tandem to ensure sustainable innovation.

Between 17 November 2025 and 12 February 2026, the FCA will run two dedicated TechSprints — one focused on mortgages and the other on SME finance — bringing together regulators, fintech firms, policymakers, and international partners. Registration is open until 2 November 2025.

This initiative builds on the success of the FCA’s Open Finance Sprint held in March 2025, which generated practical ideas for embedding open finance into consumers’ daily financial lives.

The FCA reaffirmed its support for the government’s National Payments Vision (NPV) and the ambition for the UK to lead globally in open banking and open finance. It intends to publish a comprehensive open finance roadmap and strategy by March 2026, outlining the next phase of regulatory and industry collaboration.

Read the press release here.