Open Finance Association launched to drive open finance across Europe

Fintechs launch Open financial association (OFA) to further open up financial data and payments for consumers and businesses through API (application programming interface) technology.

Members include: Armalytix, Crezco, fineAPI, GoCardless, Nupay, Order, Plaid, Token, TrueLayer, Volt.io, World line, Worldpay, Yapily.

With the introduction of the legislation in 2016 (the Payment Services Directive [PSD2]) consumers and businesses were given the right to access their payment accounts via trusted third-party providers (open banking) for the first time.

Open finance is the next step in the development of open banking. By bringing the benefits of open banking to a wider range of financial products, open finance will give consumers and businesses greater control and visibility over their financial lives.

OFA brings fintechs together to help drive the development towards open finance across Europe and believes secure, open APIs are key to competition and innovation in this space.

OFA also welcomes you Nilixa Devlukia as head of the organization. Devlukia, who has previously held senior roles at Financial Conduct Authorityit Open Banking Implementation Entityand European Banking Authoritycomments on the launch:

“Now is the time for industry, policymakers and regulators to come together and make open finance a reality. By promoting an API-focused agenda in both payments and data, OFA aims to foster a healthy and sustainable FinTech ecosystem, where consumers and businesses all benefit from improved, innovative services. I am excited to work with our members, who are true leaders and innovators, and look forward to engaging with stakeholders at all levels to achieve OFA’s vision.”

OFA priorities

• Enables consumers and businesses to access and leverage their data across all their financial accounts through trusted third-party providers.
• Develop and drive the introduction of a competitive and practical immediate payment method based on open payments.
• Promote a sustainable, well-functioning open financial ecosystem by creating the right balance between requirements and incentives for all participants.

OFA operates from both Brussels and London, helping to shape important developments in open financial policy in both jurisdictions.