Open finance is arguably reshaping global financial services as we know it—expanding rapidly beyond traditional regulatory mandates into a powerful market-driven paradigm.
Financial institutions are already increasingly leveraging open ecosystems, APIs, and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to seamlessly embed financial capabilities into customer interactions. Notable advancements include the adoption of flexible, automated payment solutions that lessen dependence on traditional card infrastructure, AI-driven personalization tailored precisely to customer preferences, and the extension of open finance frameworks into interconnected smart data environments across sectors including healthcare, mobility, and energy.
By at least one measure, open finance has already attracted more than 132 million active users globally, with over 330 billion open banking payment transactions annually, according to the Twimbit/F5 2025 Global State of Open Finance report.
As organizations embrace these innovations and expand into broader, cross-industry ecosystems, they face intensified challenges around security, regulatory compliance, and evolving competitive pressures.
Mapping the global open finance frontier
To assess these global shifts, the report introduces Twimbit’s Global Open Finance Maturity Index. It evaluates open finance readiness across 32 countries using two core criteria:
Regulatory initiatives such as policies, guidelines, and standards defined by government bodies to encourage open finance growth.
Market initiatives including innovation, commercial activities, and collaborative solutions implemented by banks, neobanks, and fintech firms.
Based on performance in these two criteria, countries fall into four maturity categories:
Champions (High regulatory clarity; strong market maturity)
Enthusiasts (Market innovation ahead of regulatory initiatives)
Intermediaries (Moderate regulatory and market maturity)
Crawlers (Emerging and early-stage maturity)
Regulatory leadership driving global innovation
In Champion countries, clear regulatory strategies have created environments for banks and fintechs to innovate confidently:
- In the United Kingdom, for instance, the Joint Regulatory Oversight Committee’s 2025 roadmap, supported by the Data (Use and Access) Bill, has set foundational standards for open finance and embedded finance solutions, powering what’s projected to be a $13 billion “smart data” market.
- In India, open finance adoption is driven by ambitious government-led initiatives like India Stack and the Account Aggregator framework. These mechanisms simplify secure customer data flows, accelerating financial inclusion and fostering new consumer-centric business models.
- Singapore tends to lead global market-friendly governance with flexible API standards, sandbox experimentation, and ecosystem collaboration spearheaded by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
- Brazil continues to build upon its landmark Open Finance initiative—with monthly API calls exceeding 96 billion—by introducing planned Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) regulations and enhancements to Pix, the country’s instant-payment system. These enhancements aim explicitly at deepening interoperability, transparency, and financial inclusion, reinforcing Brazil’s leadership in open finance.
These examples underscore the central lesson: targeted regulatory leadership can enable unprecedented financial system transformation by clarifying the rules of engagement, promoting transparent data handling, and opening up entirely new business opportunities for banks and fintechs.
Lessons from ‘Enthusiasts’—market-driven innovations fueling open finance
While Enthusiast countries such as the United States and China may currently lack the extensive regulatory frameworks of the Champions, market-driven initiatives from banks, fintechs, and cross-sector partners illustrate extraordinary potential and momentum in open finance innovation.
In the U.S., for instance, JPMorgan and Walmart partnered to offer embedded payments through Walmart Marketplace. This collaboration enables U.S. merchants to manage payments and cash flow directly using JPMorgan’s financial infrastructure, enhanced with tools for seamless digital onboarding and robust data-driven analytics.
Similarly, fintech infrastructure provider Mbanq has expanded its banking-as-a-service capabilities by helping banks, fintechs, and non-financial brands launch branded mobile banking apps, streamlining digital onboarding and integrating robust Know-Your-Customer (KYC/KYB) functionalities for both individual and corporate customer segments.
Indonesia’s GoTo Group also demonstrates entrepreneurial drive in open finance with TikTok when they significantly expanded their partnership to create the “GoPay Later” offering on ShopTokopedia. Leveraging user data strategically, this collaboration demonstrates the immense potential in cross-industry partnerships that monetize data and embed financial services invisibly into everyday consumer experiences.
These examples reveal clear insights: In the absence of a fully mature regulatory framework, Enthusiast countries are proactively advancing open finance through market-driven initiatives, partnerships, and customer-centric product design, demonstrating how forward-thinking institutions can rapidly advance open finance solutions, attract new users, and create innovative revenue opportunities.
Navigating API security and AI challenges
However, this rapidly growing open finance related ecosystem adds substantial complexity and risk—primarily through heightened API vulnerabilities. Common vulnerabilities are poor authentication management, missing API inventories, and insufficient access controls.
APIs must no longer be viewed purely as integration tools but as strategic assets requiring proactive and systematic security management. Institutions must invest in robust API discovery and governance, layered and continuous protection, and the embedding of security-by-design into all open finance activities.
Meanwhile, artificial intelligence further accelerates API proliferation by enabling sophisticated, dynamic customer journeys and risk management strategies. However, this API-AI convergence introduces complexity that demands heightened vigilance around resilience, management, and security standards.
Conclusion: Banking’s invisible future
Twimbit’s research underscores open finance as an irreversible trend with massive economic impact on the horizon. By 2030, Twimbit predicts the embedded finance market alone will rise to $7.2 trillion, incorporating over 1 billion global users. This rapid evolution is forcing all banking institutions and fintech players to rethink traditional business models.
To retain market leadership and customer trust, financial institutions must collaborate closely with regulatory authorities, third-party ecosystems, and technology providers. Through standardized protocols, like FDX, secure API architectures, resilient AI integration frameworks, and continuous, informed ecosystem governance, open finance pioneers are crafting a financial future that is invisible, intuitive, and inherently trusted.
Chad Davis is Senior Solutions Marketing Manager with F5.
