02 August 2022

EBF Response to the European Commission’s call for evidence on Open Finance

Open Finance must be considered as part of the data economy as a whole .. there must be a careful reflection of what policy option to pursue which,... empowers and delivers new opportunities for customers and, on the other, stimulates innovation in the financial sector and data economy as whole.

The European Banking Federation (EBF) has responded to the European Commission’s Call for Evidence on an “Open Finance Framework – enabling data sharing and third party access in the financial sector.” Key points that the EBF highlights include:

• Open Finance must be considered as part of the data economy as a whole and there must be a careful reflection of what policy option to pursue which, on the one hand, empowers and delivers new opportunities for customers and, on the other, stimulates innovation in the financial sector and data economy as whole.
• The approach to Open Finance should set out a framework or a scheme with provisions on how data could be share (including consumer protection, liability, compensation, technical obstacles) to facilitate voluntary data sharing, based on market needs. This would help to see for which use cases there is customer demand – for which there is the most added value – while supporting innovation in the market.
• Trust must be the foundation of any data sharing framework as the customer is at the centre. Consent management tools can play a role and can be provided by any party (data holder, third party or intermediary).
• Technical obstacles such as common secure access and transfer mechanisms and standards must be addressed. Efforts should be market driven and build on existing developments. Any Framework should remain technology neutral to allow for novel solutions to emerge.
• A fair distribution of value is key. Incentives should be provided for all market actors, which will also result in better outcomes for end users.

The response to the Call for Evidence on Open Finance should be seen as a complement to the EBF response to the European Commission’s Targeted Questionnaire on Open Finance.

EBF

© EBF