The report provides an overview of global initiatives, barriers to its adoption and importantly discusses the potential it has to change the entire payments industry.

Following the impact of the COVID-19 health crisis, there has never been a more important time for economies to have strong digital economies with data and payments available via secure application program interfaces (APIs). The detailed assessment, Unleashing the Potential of Open Banking, aims to be a ‘rallying cry’ to the payments industry, from issuers and regulators, retailers and acquirers, regulators and third-party providers to help unlock the significant opportunity that open banking offers.

Sponsored by a syndicate of EPA members led by MasterCard, Refinitiv, Token and Chargebacks 911, the report is informed by a series of discussions and interviews with leading payments executives from the United Kingdom and beyond. These industry experts explained how their organisations are preparing for a large-scale adoption of open banking. The report also covers the several potential barriers to the adoption of open banking, from protection and user trust, to API performance and availability, and a lack of market incentives.

These barriers, whilst problematic, are weighed up against the positive potential impact on payments including the emergence of a new value chain in the payments ecosystem and wins for the big technology companies.

The analysis allowed the EPA to identify actions and recommendations for itself, its members and the wider payments industry. These include crucial themes such as ‘how to help create the market conditions for success’, and the ‘need to champion standards and the user experience’. The EPA’s new working stream ‘Project Open Banking’, will aim to implement these recommendations and help pave the way for payments to play a central role in enabling a transformative change in financial services.

Huw Davies, Chief Commercial Officer and Co-founder, Ozone Financial Technology, said: “Open banking is now a global phenomenon and has the potential to dramatically transform the payments industry. It's still early in the journey, and therefore the perfect moment to look at learnings from around the world. He added, “specifically, we should identify areas where we can accelerate the opportunity, increase value for payment users and create the foundations for interoperability and significant scale. It's been a real privilege to help author this important white paper.”

Tony Craddock, Director General of the Emerging Payments Association, said: “This report is a case study showing collaboration in action. And that’s at the heart of open banking. Readers across the world can use it as a guide, as a series of checklists, drawing on what works - and what can go wrong. It will help accelerate the adoption of a common approach and common standards, and as a result, help make payments work for all.”