There is a growing appetite for the next evolutionary step in open banking - open finance - within the global FS sector, with nearly half of senior professionals considering it a "must have" in the context of data sharing.
In a survey for Finastra of more than 750 financial services pros from seven countries, 48% regard open finance as a "must have", up from 38% in 2021. Some 94% think it is a "must have" or "important".
The rise of open finance is also proving popular, with 85% of professionals agreeing that it is already making the industry more collaborative and is having a positive impact on the industry.
Meanwhile, the more mature open banking is now considered "must have" or "important" by 99% of respondents.
The survey also reveals that 83% of institutions agree that BaaS and embedded finance is already expected or demanded by customers. More than a third of those surveyed have improved or deployed BaaS in the past year. A fraction less have deployed embedded finance.
The drivers of technological adoption remain consistent: growing the business, meeting customer expectations, staying ahead of the competition and cutting costs.
And, while grumblings about ESG have been in the headlines, almost nine in 10 organisations agree that it’s important for the financial services and banking sector to support environmental, social and governance initiatives.
Simon Paris, CEO, Finastra, says: “Over the years that we have conducted this survey, we have seen open finance grow from an emerging idea to a clear priority for institutions across the world, enabling, as it does, business model shifts such as embedded banking, as well as financial inclusion and equality.”