PaymentsPedia Review – Building Open Finance:From Policy to Infrastructure

PaymentsPedia recently reviewed a paper by  Douglas Arner Ross Buckley, Dirk Zetzsche,  Christine Menglu Wang, that explores the evolution of Open Banking, Open Finance, and Open Data globally.

The paper presents a powerful argument: Open Finance is no longer just about APIs and regulatory obligations. It is becoming a cornerstone of national digital public infrastructure (DPI) — alongside identity systems, payments rails, and data-sharing frameworks.

Key Takeaways:

• Open Finance is moving from voluntary to mandatory frameworks.
• It is expanding beyond financial data into cross-sector open ecosystems.
• Governments must build shared infrastructure — not just mandate data access — to drive innovation, inclusion, and sustainable development.

The paper compares models from India, Brazil, Australia, Singapore, and the EU, offering valuable insights into different regulatory and infrastructure approaches.

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PaymentsPedia’s Critical Perspective:

While the paper makes a compelling case for infrastructure-driven Open Finance, several critical risks require deeper attention:

• Data Monopolization: Dominant players could still centralize control despite open frameworks.
• Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities: Wider data access increases systemic securitySecurity security Measures used to protect transaction data from fraud and cyber threats. risks.
• Cross-Border Fragmentation: Differing country approaches risk creating friction and regulatory arbitrage.
• Consent Fatigue: Consumers could disengage from meaningful consent, weakening trust.

Moreover, while the case studies are rich, greater use of real-world adoption data (e.g., uptake rates in Australia’s CDR or India’s AA network) would have grounded the paper’s insights even further.

📄 Read the full paper: Building Open Finance: From Policy to Infrastructure