Open Finance: Hype versus Reality

Open finance has been in the headlines for years but in many ways, we’re still laying the tracks. JPMorganChase’s recent decision to charge for access to customer bank data has reignited the conversation, especially amid speculation over the future of Section 1033. For most banks, turning open banking into a revenue generator remains more aspiration than execution.

Despite the unclear path forward, the stakes are high. Banks have continued to struggle with sustainable revenue models and growth as fintechs, neobanks, and customer-centric alternatives build businesses on top of their rails. Too often, these players capture customer data, generate value from it, and return little to nothing to the banks that enable it.

JPMorganChase’s Signal to the Industry

JPMorgan Chase’s move indicates an intention to monetize access to customer financial data, transforming a regulatory requirement into a business opportunity. Their actions show there is real revenue potential in monetizing access to customer financial data.

For other banks, the message is clear: if the opportunity and ROI are present, the key question becomes: “how will you participate?” Capturing value requires the right tools to manage and monetize data access. That’s where the strategic choice arises: 

• Build your own in-house capabilities, or
• Buy a ready-made solution from a vendor that tracks fintech usage and allows for granular monetization, whether by API call or data type.

In consumer banking especially, this shift offers a chance to unlock a new revenue stream. Corporate and commercial banking have long monetized services, think NetSuite integration, bill-pay fees, QuickBooks Online access, but retail has mostly subsidized data access through aggregators like Plaid. Now, for the first time, the economics might be shifting in banks’ favor.

Why Monetization Matters

The focus on monetizing consumer banking couldn’t come at a better time for banks. This slice of the market has been under pressure due to rising deposit costs, limited interchange fees, and weakening credit performance. Tapping into open finance monetization unlocks an entirely new digital revenue stream that appeals to institutions of all sizes. The benefits are clear for large banks with extensive customer bases; however, small and mid-sized banks can benefit just as much. Open finance leads to better customer service and delivers the ROI needed to offset the costs of implementation. 

But what about banks that are not part of the top tier? Here, risk is significant and real: aggregators might refuse to pay smaller institutions. In the worst case, they may deprioritize their data. This creates a two-speed market for financial institutions, where some can monetize their data and others cannot. Doubters only need to look at the Plaid/Fidelity showdown to see that aggregators are adopting more strategic and sometimes aggressive approaches that reveal their priorities. They are not aiming to treat every bank equally. This situation is bad news for banks that haven’t prepared for this phase of digital transformation and is an opportunity for those with the right teams and tools in place to manage real-time balances, pending transactions, and usage metadata, such as monetizable assets.

What Banks Need: Infrastructure, Intelligence, and Control

In evaluating the tools and infrastructure that banks need, it’s important to focus on visibility. Financial institutions need to understand who’s accessing what data, how often, and to what end. Specifically, this includes:

• Which applications are accessing data from the FI
• What is the volume of requests per application
• Which fintech applications are accessing data through aggregator partnerships
• How many customers are taking advantage of the connectivity, and who they are
• What are the performance and uptime statistics for the open finance APIs

Looking beyond monetization, this level of visibility enhances customer insight, creating more opportunities for upselling, cross-selling, and personalized offers. Reliance on screen scraping has been replaced with smarter tools and better data. The move away from screen scraping toward more advanced tools and cleaner data offers an additional benefit: optimizing fintech behavior. As cost per API call becomes a standard measure, fintechs will naturally cut redundancies, lowering their costs and improving the end-user experience. 

We might be witnessing the start of the end for “free” data access. Banks will increasingly rely on platforms that deliver actionable insights while protecting against fraud in an environment still full of vulnerabilities.

Build versus Buy

Earlier, we discussed two monetization options: build versus buy. In a market where speed to launch matters most, buying often proves to be the smarter choice. Here’s why:

Speed is everything. Building in-house infrastructure is expensive and slow, often delaying a bank’s ability to seize new revenue opportunities. Alternatively, purchasing a purpose-built solution shortens time-to-market, reduces development costs, and when done right, quickly unlocks additional revenue.

Customer Ownership and Relevance at Stake

While the open finance monetization opportunity is ripe, it extends further. The richer data provided by open finance underpins banks’ ability to deliver timely, personalized products, detect attrition risks early, and identify demand signals. Without this, banks are just plumbing, leaving customer relationships to aggregators and fintechs. Stagnant banks risk being disintermediated. First movers will benefit from both access and insights.

The Time to Act Is Now

JPMorgan Chase has taken the lead, creating an opportunity for others to follow. This window, however, will be brief. Open finance monetization is now available and offers a strategic path for retail banking. Fully capitalizing on it requires infrastructure, partnerships, and a shift in mindset from defensive compliance to proactive monetization.

Financial institutions must act now to secure their spot among the next generation of winners—those who see data as a business asset, not a burden. Banks are at a pivotal moment and face a crucial decision: monetize your data or let someone else do it for you.