The audience is growing Of digital consumers who use Open Banking solutions in Italy, with a success rate in accessing current account data which in the first half of the year increased overall by 1.7 percentage points, reaching 49.2%. A greater trust which is also demonstrated by the progressive increase in the shares of older customers, such as those belonging to Generation X and the Baby Boomers. The share of is also reduced high risk profiles.
Open Banking: Italians with at least one connected account are growing
These are some of the evidences of market outlook created by CRIF on‘Open Banking in Italy, rheld in conjunction with Tomorrow Speaks, CRIF’s annual event dedicated to the evolution of the financial sector. The research outlines the peculiarities of Open Banking in our country, analyzing the profile and characteristics of users, their needs, credit attitudes and payment habits. The representative sample underlying the study is approximately 180,000 counterparties and almost 240,000 current accounts, with approximately 74 million transactions, extracted from the account aggregation services of CRIF which has been operating with AISP (Account Information Service Provider) alongside national and international financial players.
Market outlook CRIF: the numbers
“The phenomenon of Open Banking is evolving also in Italy, albeit at a slower pace than in markets where it is more mature such as the United Kingdom. Even in the first half of this year, trust and the rate of access to accounts are growing, which is now completed for one user in two. From the analysis of our outlook on the characteristics and peculiarities of Italian digital consumers who use Open Banking, it emerges that they do not only belong to the younger generations, digital natives, but rather Generation X and Baby Boomers are growing more this year. Consistently, we detect a shift towards users with higher income classes and growth among those who are already active in the credit market” – he comments Simone Capecchi, Executive Director of CRIF.
Older consumers are growing
That Italians look at Open Banking with greater confidence is also demonstrated by the shift towards less young generations, with an increase in the share of users belonging to Generation X and Baby Boomers, respectively of +4.8 and +6.5 percentage points in the first half of this year.
Open Finance: the next evolution
Starting from 2025, with the final version of the European FIDA (Financial Data Access) Regulation, which provides regulated access for all financial services, we will enter the era of Open Finance. Open Finance looks beyond Open Banking to share and access even more banking data and products via APIs. In particular, it aims to further expand access to financial data, going beyond the boundaries of Open Banking and embracing a wide range of products and services, including: credit, mortgages, savings, pensions, taxes, insurance, investments. Through the secure sharing of this data, Open Finance aims to create a more integrated and collaborative financial ecosystem, where customers, banks, financial institutions and new players (like FISPs, i.e. Financial Information Service Providers) can interact to offer innovative and customized solutions.
“The implementation of Open Finance will have to face the same challenges that, to date, have partially slowed down the spread of Open Banking, in particular: guaranteeing the security and privacy of data; define common and harmonized standards at national and international level; promote consumer financial education; manage the risks associated with increased competition”, explains Antonio Deledda, Executive Director of CRIF. “These challenges also represent an opportunity to create a more secure, transparent and competitive financial ecosystem. Collaboration between all the actors involved will be fundamental to success of Open Finance and for the realization of its full potential.”
