American Banker’s 2026 Open Finance Adoption Status Report
American Banker’s 2026 State of Open Finance Adoption Study, sponsored by Akoya, was conducted online in October 2025 among 218 banking professionals in a variety of executive roles at banks and credit unions.
Key findings from the report
The report results are highlighted below using interactive graphs. Hover your mouse over each section to see more details, click the chart label to show or hide sections, and use the arrows to switch views of the chart.
This article is the second in a series detailing new data from American Banker. Click the link below to read the previous part.
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Where do banks currently stand on the roadmap for open finance adoption?
The concept of open finance, like any financial technology endeavor, requires a significant amount of planning and consideration before committing to it. Many institutions appear to still be in the planning stages.
Overall, most respondents said that financial institutions are currently evaluating the opportunities presented by open finance by assessing market trends, customer needs, and the surrounding regulatory landscape. Appraisers made up 33% of community bankers, 38% of local bankers, 26% of national bankers, and 59% of credit union executives.
Uncertainty lingers around
The next highest percentage of respondents said their organizations are currently developing a strategy to adopt open finance, including setting key objectives, building a business case, and securing buy-in from management. This group includes 13% community bankers, 32% local bankers, 23% national bankers, and 14% credit union leaders.
Few survey respondents have reached the point where their organizations fully integrate open financial products into their business procedures. This group of respondents includes 11% community bankers, 2% regional bankers, 5% national bankers, and no credit union leaders.
At least one company that was meant to help banks move deeper into open banking has scaled back.
In August, Bloomberg reported that Visa
Chris Miller, a senior director at Cornerstone Advisors, told American Banker that the move “underscores how volatile this industry is,” adding that changing laws and fees “could certainly slow adoption, especially for smaller companies that can’t afford to make compliance mistakes.”
“However, that doesn’t mean the underlying demand for open banking and embedded payments is going away. Consumers and businesses alike expect a smoother, more integrated financial experience,” Miller said.
Important points: Most financial institutions are still in the exploration and planning stages of their open finance roadmap.
What tools are banks using to build data pipelines?
The financial industry is moving away from screen scraping, where data aggregators obtain a consumer’s login credentials, log in as the consumer, and copy and paste financial data into external apps, to APIs with mutually agreed upon protocols and underlying contracts.
At least a quarter of all bank respondents said their financial institution allows third-party companies to access customer financial data
One-third of all respondents said their institution allows them to share data via API or screen scraping, depending on the third party.
Screen scraping creates vulnerabilities, such as making it difficult for banks to distinguish between genuine customer traffic and aggregator or fraudster traffic. The API is
Almost half (49%) of local bankers allow data sharing via screen scraping or APIs, as do 53% of local bankers, 37% of national bankers, and 44% of credit union executives.
The percentage of financial institutions that do not offer an API is 11% local banks, 6% regional banks, 2% national banks, and 12% credit unions.
Rahul Sharma, senior project manager at US Bank, told American Banker that the API
“The smartest companies are taking a cue from Silicon Valley and treating their APIs like real products, not just technical plumbing,” Sharma says. “That means investing in sophisticated developer tools, very clear guides, serious support teams, and more to help our partners succeed.”
Important points: While large institutions have been power users of APIs, community banks and credit unions are using a combination of APIs and screen scraping.
Risk management and API maintenance are hindering open finance adoption
Third-party risk management, structuring data access agreements, etc. all create hurdles between banks and open finance programs.
34% of respondents said implementing third-party risk management is the biggest challenge facing their bank or credit union’s open finance efforts. Establishing data access agreements came in second, cited by 25%, followed by ongoing maintenance and upgrades of APIs (20%) and support and management of third-party companies seeking access (18%).
The rise of data sharing through APIs is not new, but it is putting financial institutions at risk.
More than half of respondents (58%) said monitoring and supporting external companies seeking direct access to consumer financial data would be a moderate challenge for further efforts. API maintenance was considered a moderate challenge by 52% of respondents, third-party risk management by 43%, and data access agreements by 42%.
A minority of respondents thought all four elements of open finance were okay. Six percent of respondents said third-party access support was not a challenge for their institution, with 3 percent saying the same in the other three categories.
Teresa Walsh, former director of the Global Intelligence Office at the Center for Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis, told American Banker that when it comes to APIs, the more players involved in exchanging data, the more likely vulnerabilities will emerge.
“These attackers are opportunistic and will try anything under the sun,” Walsh said. “If there’s any hole, they go after it. That’s why we always talk about testing. That’s why red teams exist. That’s why we have penetration testing. We’re always trying to test the API.”
Important points: Third-party risk management is a major challenge facing open finance programs.
Are banks and credit unions ready and willing to adopt APIs?
Approximately 70% of respondents agreed that their institution has the appropriate technology infrastructure to participate in open finance. 13% neither agreed nor disagreed with this statement, and 16% said their institution was not technologically ready.
Technical readiness is not a one-size-fits-all metric. Some banks are able to leverage economies of scale to build open financial programs in-house, while others are not.
Most respondents (73%) said they have technology in place to support high-volume API calls.
67% somewhat agreed that their institution treats APIs as a core product internally.
70% of bankers agreed that internal teams within their organization actively use APIs shared with third-party entities.
Most respondents (80%) said their institution consumes data from third-party APIs.
Industry experts like Susan Falls, managing director of competitive intelligence firm Keynova Group, say open banking could help close the gap between financial institutions in the race for consumers.
“Open Banking has the potential to enable smaller financial institutions to compete more effectively with larger financial institutions and foster healthy competition within the industry,” Falls said.
Important points: APIs are an important internal tool for data consumption, and many respondents believe they could do more to support them.
Open finance drives growth initiatives for financial institutions
Open finance is starting to take shape in bankers’ minds as the next expanding frontier, and executives are left to decide what partnerships and strategies are needed to implement new technology.
Business owners looking to adopt open financial programs need to understand that once data is passed outside the institution,
Approximately 72% of respondents agreed that their institution views open finance as a strategic growth opportunity, while 25% neither agreed nor disagreed and 3% disagreed.
Regarding whether their institution has a clear strategy for monetizing data and APIs, 60% of respondents agreed, 18% neither agreed nor disagreed, and 23% disagreed.
69% of respondents agreed that their institution is partnering with fintechs as part of their growth strategy, while 17% neither agreed nor disagreed, and 14% disagreed.
Finally, 77% of bankers and credit union leaders agreed that executives within their organizations support open finance efforts. Approximately 19% neither agreed nor disagreed, and 3% disagreed.
Important points: Overall, executives are actively working to advance open finance initiatives.
Opening the weir of open finance
Financial institution leaders recognize that they are at different starting points on the open finance roadmap, with some leading the way and others far behind.
The main reason for this is regulatory uncertainty with the CFPB.
When asked how their organization’s open finance adoption and usage compares to competing financial institutions, 13% of respondents said they are far ahead, 19% are slightly ahead, 38% are on track, 19% are slightly behind, and 6% are far behind.
When bankers compare themselves to a broader set of financial institutions, they become less confident. 11% of institutions are far ahead, 17% are slightly ahead, 29% are on their current path, 28% are slightly behind, and 11% are far behind.
Important points: Most respondents are in line with their competitors and broader industry in adopting open finance.