Open banking in Europe: A 2025 market overview

If you’re searching for open banking solutions in Europe, you likely want to:

Scale your payment and/or data-access services as you grow your business across borders.
Keep the open banking customer experience as seamless as possible, without sacrificing brand awareness.
Understand local opportunities and challenges as you branch out.

As a leading open banking infrastructure provider, Yapily enables seamless access to bank accounts across Europe. We’ll share insights on the European open banking market and show you how Yapily helps you offer account-to-account payments across the continent.

In this article, we cover:

Looking to offer open banking payment and data services in Europe? Let Yapily connect you to nearly 2,000 banks and financial institutions in 19 countries. Contact us to get the conversation started.

Open banking in Europe: An Overview

In Europe, open banking started with the European Union’s (EU) Payment Services Directive (PSD1) in 2007.(1)

This official guidance aimed to:

Establish a national payment system to make cross-border transactions easier
Stimulate electronic payment competition in the financial services industry
Provide a safer, higher quality experience for end users

The European Commission revised this directive into PSD2 to include innovative technology, such as the payment initiation service (PIS), in 2013.(2) PSD2 mandates that banks provide authorised third-party providers with access to customer account information, under customer consent.

The EU member states finally adopted PSD2 in 2015 and implemented it by 2018.(3)

Around the same time, the United Kingdom (UK) developed their own Open Banking Standards. They outlined secure data-sharing guidelines with the goal of enhancing transparency and improving customer control over financial data.

By 2018, the UK had implemented its open banking framework, requiring major banks to grant licensed startups access to customer data, based on customer consent.

The UK and EU regulatory standards have spurred the growth of fintech companies and encouraged traditional banks to innovate. Since then, a diverse array of financial services has become available to consumers.

Looking ahead, PSD3 and FIDA (Financial Data Access regulation) are now emerging as the successor regulations to PSD2, set to further evolve the European open banking landscape and address some of the implementation challenges experienced with PSD2.

However, the open banking surge has also raised concerns regarding data privacy and security, prompting ongoing discussions about balancing innovation with robust consumer protection.

Key open banking figures for the European market

Europe is the dominant player in the global open banking market, with an expected compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 23.8% between 2023 and 2031.(4)
In 2023, the total European open banking market was USD 9.28 billion, and is expected to grow 25% to USD 44.9 billion by 2030.(5)
The UK leads open banking adoptions in Europe, with 12 million users in December in 2024, a 50% increase in just one year.(6)
The open banking API calls of France, Germany, Italy and Spain combined were estimated at 6.4 billion in 2023, whereas the UK had 14 billion at that time.(7)
There’s higher penetration of opening banking amongst small business users (18%) than in retail users (13%), though the gap between them is narrowing.(8)
Key open banking segments in Europe include banking and capital markets, payments, digital currencies, and value-added services.(9)
The largest segments are banking and capital markets, while payments is the fastest growing segment.(10)

One recent regulatory milestone could further boost adoption, especially for Pay by Bank. As of January 2025, banks and PSPs in the Eurozone must receive SEPA Instant payments at no extra cost. While most already do, the big shift comes in October 2025, when sending SEPA Instant will also be cost-aligned with standard SEPA.

This removes a key cost barrier and, combined with mandatory Verification of Payee, could drive serious momentum behind Pay by Bank, giving it a stronger foothold to compete with cards.

Open banking in Europe: Country by country

We’ll break down the European open-banking market country by country.

United Kingdom

As one of the open banking pioneers in Europe, the UK market continues to grow strongly.

It has an 11.2% share of the market globally based on generated revenue, and experts see it remaining the European market leader until 2030.(11) Based on this trend, the value of UK open banking transactions can expect to grow 500% between 2023 and 2027, reaching USD 82 billion.(12)

Banking and capital markets were the largest revenue generating services in 2023, while payments grew the fastest.(13)

Open banking’s great adoption and success in the UK can be attributed to its highly functional features, such as bulk payments and variable recurring payments (VRP).

Germany

Closely following the UK as the leader in open banking, the German market accounts for 7.1% of global open banking revenue, reaching USD 1.78 billion in 2023.(14)

Also similar to the UK, both banking and capital markets are Germany’s largest revenue generator in open banking, while the payments segment is growing the fastest.(15)

Studies show an expected CAGR of 26% between 2024 and 2030, reaching USD 9.01 billion in revenue for the German market.(16)

Learn more about Open Banking in Germany: What you need to know.

France

Experts predict France’s open banking market will grow from 8.5% of users in 2021 to 36% by 2027.(17) This could be due to the country’s increased standardisation efforts, leading to powerful market-wide coordination and fostering innovation.(18)

Though France doesn’t have its own real-time payment network, it adopted the pan European SEPA instant credit transfers (known as SCT Inst) in 2018. Experts say there’s potential for growth in its open banking sector that could add up to 2.8% to the country’s GDP by 2028.(19)

Ensuring consumer trust and addressing data privacy concerns remain critical for the French open banking market to thrive.(20)

Want to know more about the French market? Read our guide, Open Banking in France.

Netherlands

The Netherlands started adopting open banking in 2019. Their account-to-account payment service, iDeal, paved the way for open banking in 2005 and has since become the country’s preferred payment method.

Experts expect to see increased open banking adoption in the Netherlands, growing from 7% of adults in 2021 to 29% by 2027.(21) This outlook is due to the country’s strong digital infrastructure, which can support rapid open banking integration.(22)

The Netherland’s key challenge remains in balancing open banking innovation with stringent regulatory compliance.

Austria

Austria actively promotes open banking initiatives, creating potential for fintech collaboration growth. For example, the Austrian Financial Market Authority’s (FMA) Regulatory Sandbox helps stimulate fintech innovation, enabling firms to develop their financial solutions in a protected environment.

Austria’s major open banking challenge is achieving widespread consumer awareness and adoption.

Discover more in our guide: Open Banking in Austria

Belgium

Belgium started using open banking with the introduction of Bancontact Payconiq, an app that facilitates account-to-account (A2A) payments.

In 2024, Belgium users made 2.5 billion payments with Payconiq and Bancontact.(23)

Belgium will soon sunset Payconiq to make way for wero, the account-to-account payment system created by the European Payments Initiative (EPI). Wero aims to be a unified European payment system that can compete with American digital payment powerhouses, like PayPal.

Learn more in our article, Open Banking in Belgium

Denmark

Among the top performers in open banking, Denmark is driven by its pan-Nordic digital IDs and know your customer (KYC) solutions.(24)

Regulated by Finanstilsynet, their regional financial authority, Denmark adopts the Berlin Group’s NextGenPSD2 standard, which supports non-standard payments and formats as well as diverse business models.

Discover more in this post: Open Banking in the Nordics

Finland

The recent closure of the Nordic P27 Initiative(25)—a real-time payment system allowing instant cross-border transactions between Finland, Sweden, and Denmark—leaves Finland without a solution to help standardise their open banking payments or drive innovation.

Experts, however, see this as an opportunity for greater collaboration between Finnish banks and fintechs to offer more seamless cross-border payment experiences.(26) Finland is also a fintech hub, with over 210 companies headquartered there, which can help stimulate innovation.(27)

According to a study compiled by The Global Open Data Tracker, the open banking market in Finland can thrive by standardising APIs and increasing uptimes across major banks.(28)

Read more about Open Banking in the Nordics

Sweden

A recent Forrester report predicts user penetration in Sweden to reach 47% by 2027, outperforming other European countries thanks to a robust fintech and open banking market.(29)

In part, Sweden’s open banking strength is due to innovative payment solutions like Swish, the country’s top real-time payment app, launched in 2012. It registered over one billion payments in 2023 alone.(30)

The Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (Finansinspektionen) is the regulatory body overseeing open banking and ensuring PSD2 compliance.

Discover why Sweden ranks third on our open banking league table

Estonia

Though ranked 15th on our open banking league table, Estonia has one of the highest digital literacy rates, not just in Europe but in the world:

Over 92% Estonians have internet access(31)
89% of Estonian internet users use internet banking(32)
Over 99% of transactions are digital(33)
All Estonians have ID cards, and 98% use them to access digital services(34)
Estonia is home to 80+ fintech companies(35)

This digital and cashless trend creates an opportunity to expand open banking in Estonia.

Estonia is also an adopter of the Berlin Group’s NextGenPSD2 Initiative for greater interoperability.

Ireland

Ireland adheres to both the UK and Berlin Group standards. While this can seem like a robust safety net, having two sets of guidelines can also cause confusion amongst third-party providers (TPPs), PSPs and fintechs.(36)

Like Estonia, Ireland ranks high in digitalisation (+72%) and is above the EU’s average.(37) In 2023, the Irish made over 4.1 billion payments, most of which were digital.(38)

Ireland’s growing fintech sector also presents collaboration opportunities. This means there’s high potential for open banking adoption in Ireland.

Educating consumers about the benefits of open banking could remain a challenge, preventing greater adoption in Ireland.

Italy

There’s significant potential for growth in the Italian open banking sector as awareness increases and cash use slowly declines.(39)

The country’s digitalisation is lower than the European average, with only 45% of people having basic or above average digital skills.(40)

In 2020, only 48% of Italians were using online banking, 18% below the EU average.(41) By 2024, Italy’s penetration rate has grown to 55%, showing increased user trust.(42)

A 2023 study from the Banca D’Italia also shows promising growth. The number of clients using its open banking services rose from 113k in 2020 to 407k in 2022, a 260% increase.(43)

The major challenge for Italy is overcoming initial skepticism and building trust among consumers.

*Discover more about open banking in Italy and why it ranks 16th in our league table. *

Latvia

Although 83% of Latvians use online banking (44) — well 12% above the EU average — their overall digitalisation rate is below average at 45%.(45)

Latvia adheres to the Berlin Group’s standards. Over 53% of the country’s financial institutions provided SEPA Instant as of June 2022.(46)

Learn more in our guide, Open Banking in the Baltics

Lithuania

Lithuania has positioned itself as a fintech hub. It is actively promoting open banking and attracting international fintech companies to enhance the ecosystem.

Over 79% of Lithuanians use online banking, 13% more than the EU average.(47)

The country ranks 10th in digital services efficiency for consumers, and 6th for businesses.(48) Lithuania is also one of the top European countries for adopting pre-filled fields with its digital service offerings.(49)

One of the country’s main challenges is balancing its rapid growth with regulatory oversight.

Read more about Lithuania in our guide, Open Banking in the Baltics

Spain

While Spain’s digitalisation is higher than the EU average,(50) only 60% of its population use online banking, falling below the EU average by 6%.(51)

However, experts predict open banking adoption in Spain to grow from 9.8% of adults in 2021 to 41% by 2027.(52) This optimism is due to increasing consumer demand for digitalised financial services in Spain(53) and to the growth of Bizum, Spain’s peer-to-peer payment services.

As one of the fastest growing A2A payments in Europe, Bizum doubled its user count from 2016 to 2023.(54) Bizum has also formed a partnership with Italy and Portugal to make instant mobile payments more accessible in these regions.(55)

Spain’s main open banking challenge remains addressing data privacy and security concerns among users to increase adoption.

Discover more in this guide, Open Banking in Spain

Czech Republic

Czechia’s population is above the EU’s average in digitalisation (69%),(56) and 78% use online banking. (57) In a recent study, 30% of Czech consumers expressed interest in having their data used to create open banking initiatives.(58)

However, increasing open banking in the Czech Republic is not a priority for its regulators.

While there’s potential to modernise financial services through digital transformation,

Czechia must first prioritise achieving consumer trust for wider spread open banking adoption.

Slovakia

As early as 2018, Slovakia developed and implemented their Slovakia Banking API standard.(59) In 2019, the National Bank of Slovakia launched an innovation hub to help fintechs innovate while adhering to compliance requirements thanks to a regulatory sandbox.

While their compliance with EU regulations supports open banking initiatives, Slovakia can increase adoption by educating the public on the benefits and security of open banking. Currently, 31% of Slovakians expressed interest in using their data to develop open banking initiatives.(60)

Hungary

While Hungary’s adherence to PSD2 has led to the emergence of its open banking services, growth is slow. Local regulators see open banking as a low priority and offer little guidance.

Though Hungary’s digitalisation is slightly above the EU average at 58%,(61) online-banking usage is below average.(62)

The Magyar Nemzeti Bank bank offers an innovation hub, started in 2019,(63) and includes a regulatory framework so fintechs, insurers, and banks can test their technology.(64)

Since 2023, the hub has created approximately 150 projects.(65) If nurtured, this initiative could further collaborations between banks and fintechs to offer diversified services in Hungary.

Poland

Both digitalisation and online banking usage in Poland is lower than the EU average, 44% and 59% respectively.(66; 67) However, 39% of Polish consumers expressed interest in having their data used to innovate open banking payments.(68)

The country’s financial regulators, The Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF), see open banking innovation as a priority. They have created the Polish API standard to spur innovation and an innovation hub to support fintech development.

Why use Yapily as your open banking solution in Europe

As we’ve seen, there’s plenty of potential to tap into Europe’s open banking market. But navigating each country’s challenges and limitations can be tricky. Yapily can help you get started, connecting you to the countries you need.

As an open banking infrastructure provider, Yapily offers extensive coverage in all the European countries listed above. With Yapily, you can connect to nearly 2,000 banks and financial institutions in 19 countries across Europe.

Fintech leaders like Pleo and Adyen that need to reach a wide European market partner with Yapily. They know that using Yapily as an open banking solution means:

Reducing the need for multiple open banking providers
Achieving seamless cross-border functionality
Expanding your customer base and streamlining your international operations without geographical limitations

Here are three key reasons to partner with Yapily to set up new or existing European open banking payments and data access.

1. Access both PIS and AIS across your European markets as you scale

Yapily is one of the few open banking providers offering both payment initiation services (PIS) and account information services (AIS) in Europe. Whereas many providers usually specialise in either AIS or PIS, Yapily is laser focused on both.

With Yapily payments, you can bypass card networks with Pay By Bank, for more affordable transactions. In addition, you can offer end-customers seamless autofill, which can speed up checkouts and improve conversion rates, enhancing customer satisfaction and reducing friction.

With our API, you can offer multiple open banking payment types. Initiate single A2A and recurring payments across the European countries listed above, as well as bulk payments and VRP in certain regions. Discover how to automate flexible recurring payments for greater control and efficiency with VRP. Read our guide.

Yapily Dataconnects you directly to bank accounts, providing real-time financial data for accurate verification. Yapily aggregates real-time financial data from multiple banks, providing a unified, accurate, up-to-date view of customer financial positions.

With Yapily Data Plus, you can get further insights. This includes transaction categorisation and data enrichment, enabling you to understand banking data quickly for more informed decision making.

You can take advantage of both open banking payments and data services through a single Application Programming Interface (API) integration with Yapily.

Discover more:

2. Connect to European business and consumer accounts with a powerful open banking API

Unlike other open banking solutions that specialise in consumer account connections, Yapily delivers exceptional connectivity for consumer, business and corporate accounts across Europe.

Our API-first infrastructure empowers you to build custom open banking solutions with the flexibility required for robust support across diverse use cases, whether you’re a PSP or a TPP working with B2B or B2C models. This includes:

Complete payment processing for all account types
Comprehensive data services tailored to your specific needs
Enterprise-grade infrastructure that scales with your business

For example, Yapily’s customer** Crezco, a UK-based fintech, transformed SME financial operations by leveraging Yapily’s extensive European business banking infrastructure.

Facing challenges like late invoice payments, hidden fees eroding profit margins, and administrative burdens slowing business operations, Crezco partnered with Yapily to develop specialised B2B payment solutions featuring instant account-to-account transfers between business accounts.

The results:

27% reduction in payment delays
GBP 1,000 savings for every 25 invoices processed
71% increase in account-to-account payment adoption
Over 5,000 European SMEs now benefit from cost-effective payment solutions.

*“We have seen great adoption of open banking amongst our customers. €7.3m across UK, Netherlands and France have been topped up by our customers using Yapily’s open banking infrastructure.” — *Clara Schindler Product Manager/Payments at Pleo

Read more about open banking for business accounts

3. Customise or white-label your open banking offer for a seamless user experience

Some open banking infrastructure providers offer only hosted pages. This means your end customers will see your open banking provider’s brand name instead of yours in the payment flow, reducing trust.

Yapily offers you** two solutions**. Choose** hosted pages** with pre-built templates you can customise to fit your business needs so you can launch your open banking solution quickly. This can be a great way to quicken your implementation while you create your white-label direct integration through Yapily.

Our white-label infrastructure ensures you have complete control of the payment process.

By maintaining your brand’s visibility throughout the entire payment process through white labelling, you keep the user experience consistent and familiar, building trust and reducing abandonment.

Tap into the potential of open banking in Europe with Yapily

Though a pioneer, the European open banking market is still booming. But navigating its complexities requires the right infrastructure partner. Yapily can help.

You can scale across Europe with access to nearly 2,000 banks and financial institutions. Offer both PIS and AIS to enhance payments and financial data services. And with Yapily’s robust API and white-label solution, you can enhance the end customer experience no matter the region or transaction volume.

Start your European open banking journey with Yapily today. Get in touch.

Payment Products

Data Products

Tools & Services

Industries

Technical Resources

Company

Insights