Introduction – the year ahead
Marion King,
OBL Chair and Trustee
As we begin a new and incredibly important year for the continued progression of open banking in the UK, I reflect upon 2024, which saw an unprecedented level of growth and delivery.
In November 2024 we were delighted to count 11.77 million active users of open banking, who made around 23.13 million payments , 3 million of which were variable recurring payments (VRPs). We expect this steady upward trajectory to continue throughout 2025.
The announcement of the Data (Use and Access) Bill 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 to establish the long term regulatory framework (LTRF) for open banking, putting it on a commercially sustainable footing.
Alongside the National Payments Vision, and the potential it offers to transform the UK’s payments landscape, open banking is in a strong position to support economic growth and a vibrant fintech sector.
As always, we rely on the continued support of, and collaboration with, the ecosystem, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Payments Systems Regulator (PSR), and the CMA9, all of whom have enabled the delivery of a true public good for UK citizens and businesses.
We look forward to a stellar year in 2025.
We start 2025 in a stronger position than ever before. As an organisation, we have made excellent progress on delivering the Joint Regulatory Oversight Committee (JROC) programme, which covers key topics such as consumer protection and financial crime in open banking. We also look forward to greater clarity on the future entity as we move beyond a competition remedy to playing a key role in delivering a smart data economy.
The Government’s announcement of the National Payments Vision highlighted the “significant untapped potential” offered by open banking payments, outlining the role it can play in offering competition and innovation in the payments landscape.
Again, the JROC work on commercial VRPs has delivered significant progress in this regard, paving the way for market choice and innovation, including A2A payments for e-commerce and key economic sectors such as utilities and regulated financial services.
We are proud that the mandated approach to open banking in the UK has delivered a blueprint for more than 60 other jurisdictions, and will have a keen eye on interoperability in the coming year, as the industry looks to enable world class cross-border data sharing.
We hear from independent and our own in-house experts on many of these topics, as they share their views on the key trends and developments for what we believe will be an even stronger 2025.
Henk Van Hulle,
OBL CEO
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