DIGITAL BANKING
What are the biggest barriers preventing widespread consumer adoption of open banking services, and how should the industry address them?
Erick Watson, CEO, Randamu The biggest barrier is still trust. Consumers remain wary of granting broad access to their financial data, especially when the incentives are unclear or the consent models seem opaque.
Another friction point is fragmented user experience( UX): too many interfaces and too little interoperability. To overcome this, the industry needs to lead with value, rather than relying on technical jargon. Demonstrate tangible improvements such as faster loan approvals, smarter budgeting, or realtime fraud prevention and adoption will follow.
Embedding verifiable consent protocols and data minimisation frameworks, similar to what’ s done in Web3 privacy tooling, can also make open banking feel safer by design.
Krishna Subramanyan, CEO, Bruc Bond The real blocker is not awareness, it’ s the inability of backend systems to scale. A seamless front-end experience is ineffective if the underlying systems cannot handle compliance, fee structures, and account hierarchies at scale.
To overcome this, we must build seamless, end-to-end platforms engineered for operational resilience and regulatory compliance, ensuring trust and reliability.
James Lynn, CEO, Currensea The UK was a genuine world-leader in open banking for many years but there is a danger of the industry resting on its laurels as other countries begin to gain ground, and in some areas, begin to overtake the UK.
Regulators must ensure they are stepping up efforts to sustain progress and support fintech innovation whilst also meeting their aim to keep customers safe. Work must also be done to boost public awareness of the value of open banking. Many consumers are unaware of the financial opportunities open banking offers and some remain wary of sharing their data with unknown third parties.
Collaboration is key to overcoming these barriers while providing wider benefits to the industry too. Though fintechs should also look beyond financial institutions when considering partnerships. Continued collaboration will further strengthen the UK’ s position as a world leader in fintech innovation and deliver enhanced customer value.
“ The UK was a genuine world-leader in open banking for many years”
JAMES LYNN, CEO, CURRENSEA fintechmagazine. com 97