The Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA’s) Mortgage and Open Finance Policy Sprint has identified the “enabling conditions” required for Open Finance to improve mortgage journeys in the UK.
As part of its Open Finance Roadmap, mortgages were examined as a priority test case “because mortgage decisions depend on information held across multiple organisations, over long periods of time”, according to the regulator.
In its Outcomes Report, the FCA revealed that the main challenge is not access to more data and that, instead, “success will depend on whether data can be treated as trusted evidence and whether the infrastructure, accountability and participation arrangements needed to support adoption are in place”.
Participants in the sprint highlighted how Open Finance could address “fragmented mortgage journeys” which currently rely on manual input from consumers as they repeatedly gather documents and provide explanations at different stages, by enabling relevant data to be pulled together and digitised.
However, participants acknowledged that the value of Open Finance will depend on whether relevant information is “accurate, current and reliable”, and whether firms are able to recognise and use the data appropriately at different points in the mortgage journey.
There was also consensus that many of the benefits depend on broad participation by key organisations and “would be difficult to realise if adoption remained uneven”.
According to the outcomes report, mandation was “strongly suggested as a vital intervention across several areas”, including participation by key organisations, minimum datasets, technical standards, recognition of evidence and common governance requirements.
Sprint participants came to the conclusion that although Open Finance may enable more personalisation within the mortgage process, success will largely depend on whether consumers are able to make more informed decisions, find it easier to obtain a mortgage, receive appropriate support and can “understand, correct or challenge” outcomes where necessary.
The FCA said the outputs from the sprint will be used to inform future policy development.
In a post on LinkedIn, Simone Plances, manager, Smart Data Accelerator at the FCA, said: “The challenge isn’t access to more data. What matters is what sits underneath. Creating the trust, infrastructure and architecture needed to enable better data to improve consumer outcomes. Across the mortgage journey as well as any other part of consumers’ financial lives.”
The report revealed that the next phase of the Smart Data Accelerator’s work will look at the data-sharing architecture, roles and responsibilities, data journeys, as well as the “key components” of infrastructure and trust, such as identity and verification, authorisation and certification, and the interdependencies between agentic AI and Open Finance.
Throughout this year, the FCA has been engaging with industry, consumer groups and fellow regulators on developing a range of “practical” Open Finance use cases through its Smart Data Accelerator and PRISM (Prioritisation and Real-world Insights Selection Matrix) Taskforce.
Simone Plances and Ekaterina Borisova of the Financial Conduct Authority’s Smart Data Accelerator are speaking at Open Banking Expo UK & Europe 2026 on 13-14 October at the Business Design Centre in London. Find out more and buy your ticket here.
