Open banking came out the gate strong in the UK in 2024. It hit a record high for payments in January; the open banking roadmap reached full completion; and the sector hit 11.3 million users in July – 12% up on the month before and double the users in 2022. 

But it also faced critical challenges. Regulatory congestion was rife. The steps forward were sluggish, and heading into 2025, there are still unanswered questions. The recently published National Payments Vision (NPV) brought a glimmer of clarity — but as we look forward, here’s what needs to happen to take open banking to the next level. 

The completion of the UK’s Roadmap for Open Banking means all CMA9 banks have now rolled out Variable Recurring Payments (VRP) for sweeping – payments made between accounts owned by the same person. But, commercial VRP is yet to take off in the same way because it’s still optional. The regulator has yet to mandate banks to build this capability into APIs, holding back its potential. We’re hopeful this will happen soon.…