The Financial Data Access (FiDA) Regulation remains pending on the European Commission’s 2026 work program, even though it could provide a critical foundation for scaling innovative, data-driven business models across the European financial ecosystem. Ongoing debates continue to center on the scope of data covered, implementation timelines, and whether financial data controlled by large US technology companies should fall within the regime. That last point, in particular, reflects a deeper tension between Europe’s pursuit of digital sovereignty and the realities of global competitiveness.
The direction Europe chooses will determine whether FIDA becomes a catalyst for a trusted, scalable open finance ecosystem or simply another fragmented regulatory experiment. Regardless of the current political uncertainty surrounding FiDA, the shift toward an open data economy is underway, and financial institutions must accelerate efforts to shape data strategies that will allow them to compete in a data-driven world.
The strategic value of FiDA — From data holder to data orchestrator
FiDA offers an opportunity to rethink the data value chain. Institutions can shift from being passive data holders that simply provide access to data orchestrators that integrate, enrich, and monetize data. This requires the adoption of a data-in mindset alongside data-out capabilities, meaning institutions must ingest and use third-party data to streamline workflows, personalize products, and create new business models. Combining banking, insurance, investment, and pension data enables a 360-degree customer intelligence view that supports holistic, contextual, and anticipatory relationships.
Strategic advantages include:
- Embedding open finance in digital transformation by integrating data governance, consent management, and product design into enterprise data strategy rather than treating them as compliance tasks.
- Leveraging existing application programming interfaces (APIs) and national rails to accelerate interoperability and reduce development costs.
- Prioritizing monetization cycles so early movers can define pricing logic and shape open finance economics.
- Creating value beyond compliance by building analytics, advisory, and risk solutions that rely on shared data access.
Prioritizing strategy and capacity to capture value in open finance
Strategic prioritization will decide which organizations will lead in open finance. While many institutions face execution fatigue from overlapping mandates such as the Payment Services Directive (PSD3) / Payment Services Regulation (PSR), the regulation on electronic IDentification, Authentication and trust Services (eIDAS 2.0), the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), and the EU AI Act, they still need to push forward and map where FiDA overlaps with existing initiatives, identify synergies, and focus scarce capacity where value is highest.
Key actions include:
- Alignment of enterprise and board priorities with FiDA and the linking of FiDA programs to measurable key performance indicators, such as onboarding time, cross-sell rates, and cost-to-serve
- Creation of cross-functional delivery teams that include compliance, data, IT, and business product owners to avoid bottlenecks and accelerate decision making
- Moving from defensive compliance to controlled experimentation by running pilots under current data-sharing frameworks to validate propositions and iterate quickly
- Defining an enterprise’s risk appetite for early moves, while balancing first-mover advantages against regulatory uncertainty and reputational risk.
Building on standards and partnerships reduces cost and time to market. Adopting proven API standards, such as Berlin Group or GiroAPI, where relevant and practical, and collaborating on infrastructure investments with trusted partners, accelerates scale.
Why customer trust is the key competitive asset in open finance
Open finance succeeds only if customers feel in control, have clarity, and trust their data is safe. Institutions with credible consent frameworks and robust authentication can convert trust into market share.
Customer-facing benefits include:
- Transparency and control, in cases where customers decide who is allowed to access their data and under what circumstances
- Personalization, enabled by richer datasets for contextual recommendations
- Simpler experiences, with shared rails reducing onboarding friction and easing switching
Institutions should design consent and authentication flows with clarity and minimal friction and consider interoperability with emerging identity tools such as the EU digital identity wallet (EUDI Wallet) to increase adoption and trust.
The open data economy will advance regardless of FiDA’s timeline
Market and technology forces will continue pushing toward data portability and interoperability, even if FiDA’s passage is delayed. Institutions that wait for formal rules risk having their options defined for them. Those that engage proactively in scheme formation can position themselves among those that help shape, or at least influence, the rules. Active participation in governance, pricing, and scheme design creates strategic optionality and protects customer relationships.
Treat FiDA as a platform to lead Europe’s finance shift
FiDA is not just a compliance checklist. It is Europe’s opportunity to transform its financial sector into a data-driven, customer-centric, and globally competitive ecosystem. Leaders who act early — aligning board priorities, mobilizing cross-functional teams, partnering to scale, and elevating customer trust — will define the standards, economics, and experiences of open finance in Europe.
This article was initially published by Techquartier and Deutsche Bank.