A group of 13 fintechs including the likes of Token, TrueLayer, Plaid, Worldline or Yapily have launched the Open Finance Association (OFA) to further open up financial data and payments through API tech.

As explained by association officials in the press release announcing the launch, with the introduction of PSD2 in 2016 consumers and businesses were given the right, for the first time, to access their payment accounts via trusted third-party providers (Open Banking). Open Finance is presented as the next step in the evolution of Open Banking and it promises to give consumers and businesses greater control and visibility of their economic lives.

Nilixa Devlukia was named Chair of the organisation. Devlukia has previously held senior roles at the Financial Conduct Authority, the Open Banking Implementation Entity, and the European Banking Authority. According to the new Chair, ‘through the promotion of an API-focused agenda in both payments and data, OFA aims to promote a healthy and sustainable fintech ecosystem, in which consumers and businesses all benefit from improved, innovative services.’

Goals and manifesto for the Open Finance Association

OFA’s primary focus is to bring together leading fintechs to help drive the move towards Open Finance across Europe and believes secure, open APIs are key to competition and innovation in this space.

OFA priorities are to enable consumers and businesses to access their data across all their financial accounts, and make use of it via trusted third-party providers. The association will reportedly focus on developing and driving the adoption of a competitive and convenient instant payment method based on open payments.

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