The UK’s financial watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced details of its strategy and roadmap for promoting open finance. To support this work, ahead of launching the open finance roadmap and strategy, FCA are announcing a major new partnership and launching 2 TechSprints.
Smart Data Accelerator
FCA asked KPMG and Europe Economics to carry out pieces of work on the benefits open banking and open finance could bring for consumers and the financial services sector. (Open banking has laid important groundwork to make everyday banking and payments more diverse and accessible. Open finance has the potential to extend this to more financial services products and services.)
The report acknowledges there would be trade-offs regulators will need to consider, to balance the benefits and risks. These include data sharing arrangements, having the right technology in place to do so, and systems and procedures that encourage innovation while ensuring consumers remain protected.
In September FCA launched its Smart Data Accelerator. This is an extension of FCA sandbox which will allow the UK’s financial watchdog to test real uses of open finance in practice.
„We are now collaborating with RaidiamLink is external to use their testing environment. This will allow firms participating in the Smart Data Accelerator to simulate and test data sharing. With this, firms will be able to develop smart data solutions that are safe, secure, and designed to benefit people and communities.” – FCA said.
Sprints
FCA is running 2 sprints between 17 November 2025 and 12 February 2026. One will focus on mortgagesLink is external, and one on finance for SMEsLink is external. The sprints are now open for registration, so firms, industry, policymakers and international partners can register by 2 November at the links above.
This follows on from the ‘Open Finance Sprint’, FCA ran in March, which brought together regulators, fintech companies, technology providers and consumer advocates. „We developed ideas for how open finance could benefit consumers in everyday life and reported the outcomes in July” – FCA mentioned.
RaidiamLink is external has been behind significant sharing developments around the world, including enabling open finance and open insurance in Brazil. „Through the partnership, Raidiam will provide our Smart Data Sprint participants with access to a stable testing environment that mirrors real-world conditions” – according to FCA.
FCA support the government’s National Payments Vision (NPV) and ambition for the UK to be a world leader in open finance and open banking. „We will continue to work with all the relevant stakeholders, including the government, and will set out a roadmap for open finance by March 2026.” – FCA said.
Banking 4.0 – „how was the experience for you”
„To be honest I think that Sinaia, your conference, is much better then Davos.”
Many more interesting quotes in the video below:
