Open finance in Europe: the demand is no longer theoretical.
Open finance is often discussed as something that will matter eventually; once regulation is in place, once infrastructure matures, once consumers are “ready”. But across Europe, the data tells a different story. Demand is already here, and it is accelerating.
Millions of people are actively sharing their financial data today to gain better visibility over their savings, pensions, investments, and insurance. This is no longer a future scenario or a niche behaviour driven by early adopters. It is a measurable shift in how people expect financial services to work.
Over the past year alone, more than 1.5 million people across Europe have shared their financial data through Insurely-powered solutions, with usage growing by roughly 50% year over year. In more mature markets, close to 15% of the population already uses services that rely on data sharing beyond the scope of PSD2.
If adoption across Europe were to reach similar levels, this would correspond to tens of millions of active users each year. These figures make one thing clear: open finance is no longer an abstract future concept — it is a behaviour that already exists at scale.
Just as importantly, this demand is not limited to a specific demographic. More than half of users sharing their financial data are over the age of 50, challenging the assumption that open finance is primarily driven by younger, digitally native consumers. The driver is not age, but need: people want clarity, convenience, and control over their financial lives.
Latent demand becomes real when value is visible.
In less mature markets, the same pattern appears again and again. When consumers are offered the option to consent and collect their financial data for a clear purpose — such as getting a better overview, switching products, or transferring assets — more than half complete the process.
This is a classic example of latent demand. People may not explicitly ask for a service they have never experienced, but once it becomes available and clearly beneficial, adoption follows immediately. The history of digital transformation is full of similar examples, from contactless payments to music streaming. Open finance follows the same logic: availability unlocks demand.
Where open finance is already delivering tangible value.
The impact of open finance is most visible in everyday financial journeys that have traditionally been fragmented. When people try to get an overview of their savings, investments, or pensions, information is often spread across multiple providers. Open finance enables this data to be brought together in a single view, giving users clearer insight into what they have and where it is held.
The same applies to transfers and consolidation. Without structured data access, these processes typically involve manual forms, document uploads, and long processing times. With consent-based data sharing, key information can be retrieved automatically, reducing friction, errors, and delays for both users and providers.
For financial institutions, this translates into more complete journeys, fewer drop-offs, and lower operational effort. Verified data supports smoother onboarding, more accurate product matching, and higher completion rates compared to fragmented, manual processes.
From ambition to execution.
The upcoming Financial Data Access framework (FIDA) represents an opportunity to align regulation with reality. By establishing clear rules for secure, consent-based data sharing across financial products, it can help scale what is already happening in parts of the market.
But regulation alone is not enough. The real shift will come as open finance moves from ambition to execution, from principles to production-grade implementations that work reliably, securely, and at scale.
The demand is already here. The question is no longer if open finance will matter, but how quickly financial institutions are prepared to meet consumers where they already are.
Interested in how open finance is taking shape in practice? Our Open Finance report looks at real usage patterns and what they mean for financial institutions across Europe. And if you want to discuss this with us, just reach out, we're always happy to talk.
