Open Banking Opportunities in 2026: Licensing, Business Models, and Market Data
Open banking is creating new fintech business models with low licensing barriers. This guide covers AIS/PIS licensing, business models, market data, and acquisition strategies.
Introduction
Open banking has fundamentally transformed how financial services are delivered across Europe, the United Kingdom, and an increasing number of markets worldwide. By mandating that banks share customer account data with authorized third parties — with the customer's consent — open banking has created an entirely new ecosystem of fintech products and business models that were impossible just a few years ago.
For fintech entrepreneurs, open banking represents both a massive market opportunity and a complex regulatory landscape. This article covers how open banking works, the licensing requirements for participating, and the business models that are generating the most value in 2026.
How Open Banking Works
Open banking is built on a simple but powerful idea: customers own their financial data, and banks must share that data — through secure APIs — with third parties that the customer authorizes. In the EU, this mandate comes from PSD2; in the UK, from the Open Banking Implementation Entity (OBIE) and the FCA.
Two key services enabled by open banking are:
- Account Information Services (AIS): Accessing and aggregating a customer's account data from multiple banks into a single view. This enables budgeting apps, credit scoring, and financial management tools.
- Payment Initiation Services (PIS): Initiating a payment directly from a customer's bank account, bypassing card networks entirely. This enables lower-cost payment methods for merchants and seamless checkout experiences.
Open Banking Licensing Requirements
AISP registration is the lightest regulatory pathway in fintech — it requires no minimum capital, only professional indemnity insurance. This makes it an attractive entry point for data-focused startups.
Business Models Thriving Under Open Banking
1. Account Aggregation and Personal Finance Management
Apps that connect to multiple bank accounts and present a unified view of the customer's finances. Revenue models include freemium subscriptions, cross-selling financial products, and selling anonymized data insights. This model requires only an AIS registration, making it the lowest-cost entry point.
2. Payment Initiation for E-Commerce
Merchants are increasingly adopting open banking payments as an alternative to card payments. By initiating payments directly from the buyer's bank account, merchants avoid card interchange fees (typically 0.2-1.5% per transaction) and benefit from instant settlement. This model requires PIS authorization.
3. Lending and Credit Scoring
Open banking data enables more accurate credit scoring by analyzing real transaction data rather than relying solely on credit bureau files. Lenders can see actual income, spending patterns, and existing financial commitments. The AIS license provides the data access, but lending itself requires additional authorization.
4. Embedded Financial Services
Non-financial companies are embedding banking features — account views, payments, and transfers — directly into their platforms using open banking APIs. This trend is driving demand for both AIS and PIS capabilities, often combined with EMI licensing for a full-stack solution.
Open Banking Market Data
Challenges and Risks
- API quality varies dramatically between banks. Some bank APIs are unreliable, poorly documented, or frequently unavailable, creating a frustrating experience for third parties and their customers.
- Customer consent management is complex. Under GDPR and PSD2, you must obtain explicit, informed consent and allow customers to revoke access at any time.
- Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) creates friction. Every 90 days, customers must re-authenticate their bank connections, which causes drop-off and reduces data continuity.
- Liability frameworks are still evolving. When something goes wrong with an open banking payment, the allocation of liability between the bank, the PISP, and the merchant is not always clear.
Acquiring Open Banking Capabilities
If you want to enter the open banking market quickly, consider acquiring a pre-licensed entity that already has PSP authorization with AIS and/or PIS scope, technical infrastructure for connecting to bank APIs, existing bank connectivity covering your target markets, and a customer consent management framework that complies with GDPR and PSD2. Dealable24 lists PSP entities with AIS and PIS authorizations that can provide immediate market access, letting you focus on building your product rather than navigating the licensing process.
Conclusion
Open banking is one of the most accessible and fastest-growing segments of fintech, with low licensing barriers for basic AIS services and enormous market potential as adoption accelerates. Whether you are building an aggregation app, a payment initiation service, or embedding financial data into a non-financial platform, the regulatory pathway is well-defined and achievable. Platforms like Dealable24 make it easy to find pre-licensed PSP entities with the right scope for your open banking ambitions.