Launching the Open Finance Association (OFA)

Volt is thrilled to announce our membership of the newly launched Open Finance Association (OFA).

OFA is dedicated to furthering open finance in the UK and EU, empowering consumers and businesses to make better use of their financial data and payments.

We believe secure, open APIs (application programming interfaces) are key to competition and innovation in this space.

What is open finance?

Open finance is the next step in the evolution of open banking. By bringing the benefits of open banking to a broader array of financial products, open finance will give consumers and businesses greater control and visibility of their economic lives.

Why launch OFA now?

Policy discussions about open finance are well underway:

• The European Commission has recently completed a public consultation on open finance. Recognising that a person’s financial life is not limited to their payment account, the EU is looking at how to expand the principles of open banking in other areas as well. A legislative initiative may follow in 2023.
• In the UK, open finance has been in discussion since the FCA’s Call for Input in 2019. A new ‘Smart Data’ bill introduced in July could pave the way to open finance by enabling sector authorities to create a new open finance framework. But legislation may take years to come into effect.

Work is also underway in industry to achieve open finance:

• In the EU, the European Payments Council is undertaking a project to create a scheme where parties pay to access ‘premium’ API functionality that goes beyond what was required under open banking.
• In the UK, The Investing and Saving Alliance (TISA) has been working on a set of API standards for savings, investment and pensions products.

The OFA is committed to engaging closely in both policy development and industry collaboration to further open finance.

How and where does the OFA operate?

OFA is a not for profit association, with an independent secretariat based in both Brussels and London. It has an independent Chair, open banking and payments expert Nilixa Devlukia.

OFA has an active policy committee made up of experts from its member organisations, who develop OFA’s objectives and strategy.

How can I join the OFA?

Visit openfinanceassociation.org for further details.

Who are OFA’s current members?

Volt is one of 12 founding members of the OFA. The full list can be seen here.