Open finance expands in UK, Colombia
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority set out a vision to extend open banking into a broader open finance framework that would let consumers and businesses permit wider use of their financial data. Colombia also approved mandatory open finance rules requiring banks to share customer data when authorised by users. (thebanker.com; cronista.com)
Britain and Colombia are moving beyond open banking, with new rules and roadmaps to let customers share more of their financial data on their own terms. (fca.org.uk; syncfy.com) In Britain, the Financial Conduct Authority published its open finance roadmap on April 14, 2026 and said it will consult on a long-term open banking framework before the end of 2026. It said it will work with His Majesty’s Treasury on options for an open finance regulatory framework by the end of 2027. (fca.org.uk; fca.org.uk) The Financial Conduct Authority said open banking already lets people and businesses securely share payment-account data with regulated apps and services. Its new plan is to extend that model to a wider set of financial products, with early use cases including small-business lending and mortgages. (fca.org.uk; fca.org.uk) In Colombia, the Financial Regulation Unit’s board approved the latest version of a mandatory open finance decree project on November 19, 2025, after the Finance Ministry published a draft for comment on July 9, 2025. The proposal requires financial institutions to share customer data when the customer has authorized it. (syncfy.com; lexology.com) Open finance means a customer can tell one company to pull data held by another company, instead of re-entering records or staying locked into one provider. Regulators in both countries are pitching that as a way to widen choice in credit, payments and other financial services. (fca.org.uk; superfinanciera.gov.co) Britain is building on a larger installed base. The Financial Conduct Authority said more than 11.7 million active users were using open banking in 2024, including more than 500,000 small businesses. (fca.org.uk) The British roadmap breaks the rollout into phases: 2026 for priority use cases and evidence-gathering, 2027 for framework design and coordination, and 2028 to 2030 for scaling services with governance and consumer protections. The regulator also said firms that already have lawful access to data and permissions do not need to wait for the full framework to launch products. (fca.org.uk; fca.org.uk) Colombia has already laid some groundwork. The Financial Superintendence of Colombia issued Circular 004 in 2024 with rules on data formats, information exchange protocols, and cybersecurity standards for supervised firms participating in open finance. (superfinanciera.gov.co; portafolio.co) The pitch in both markets is more tailored products and more competition, but the tradeoffs are also clear in the rulebooks. The British roadmap stresses consent, governance and commercial sustainability, while Colombia’s framework emphasizes explicit authorization, secure data-sharing standards and cyber controls. (fca.org.uk; superfinanciera.gov.co) The next test is execution: Britain still has consultations and legislation ahead, and Colombia’s decree project still had to complete its formal issuance after the 2025 board approval. Both are now trying to turn customer permission into a working market for financial data. (fca.org.uk; syncfy.com)
