As the dust settles on 2025, we’re gearing up for what’s coming next. As we enter 2026, the UK open banking ecosystem is entering a more decisive phase. Building on established foundations, Pay by Bank is moving from a “nice-to-have” optional innovation to a standard feature at the checkout, and expanding data use cases into broader financial decision-making.
One area where significant developments are expected is new policy announcements and key industry milestones.
To give you an overview of what to look out for and what to get excited about, our VP Product Strategy and Operations in Product, Nicole Green, highlights the key milestones in the first quarter of this year on the UK’s open banking roadmap.
Q1 2026 marks the point at which open banking begins to operate at commercial scale.
The first live payments under the UKPI scheme are slated for Q1. This marks the beginning of full commercial use cases for cVRP, starting with utilities, financial services, government, and charity use cases, before moving to ecommerce use cases in wave 2. cVRP is expected to bring open banking into mainstream use, particularly for ecommerce use cases (wave 2). On Friday last week (9th January 2026), UK Finance and Deloitte published their proposal for a commercial model for wave 2 cVRPs, including outlining pricing for ecommerce use cases. By providing a scalable alternative to traditional card rails, merchants can see lower costs, and consumers can get more control over their recurring transactions.
The next phase of open banking’s expansion into wider financial data use cases
The FCA is expected to release its comprehensive Open Finance Roadmap by March 2026. This follows the 2025 TechSprints and the progress of the Data Use and Access Act. This move expands the data-sharing principles of open banking into mortgages, pensions, and insurance. It will signal the start of a truly cross-sector "smart data" economy where financial advice can be automated and hyper-personalised.
Establishing long-term certainty for how open banking is managed and funded
As use cases expand, governance will become critical. The DUAA will give the FCA new powers to take forward open banking with a Future Entity model to replace OBL. This is intended to create a permanent, sustainable governance structure for open banking. For the industry, it means greater certainty on technical standards and a unified body to manage the expansion of open banking’s non-mandated activities.
Attention is now shifting toward execution and delivery across the UK payments landscape
Following the National Payments Vision, the Payments Vision Delivery Committee (PVDC) begins the sequenced rollout of the "Payments Forward Plan." This provides the industry with a clear, multi-year roadmap for retail and wholesale payments. For firms, it reduces "regulatory congestion" by aligning the priorities of the FCA, PSR, and Bank of England into a single, predictable timeline.
Regulators will simplify the existing framework that governs payments in the UK
Regulators are set to finalise the review of the Payment Services Regulations 2017, moving toward a more "outcome-based" framework. Expect a significant shift in delivering a more agile and responsive regulatory environment that promotes innovation in the UK payments sector.
Additionally, legislation is expected to progress to formally subsume the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) into the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). While the PSR’s functions remain, this "single regulator" model is intended to streamline compliance for firms that currently report to both bodies. It signals a more holistic approach to oversight, where payment systems and the firms that use them are regulated under one roof.
Consultation on the next generation of retail payments infrastructure will begin
The Retail Payments Infrastructure Board (RPIB), chaired by the Bank of England, will launch a formal consultation on the design of the UK’s next-generation retail payments infrastructure. This is the industry's chance to shape the "rails" that will eventually replace or significantly upgrade the Faster Payments System. It will focus on core interoperability, ensuring that new digital money (like stablecoins or a CBDC) can coexist with traditional bank transfers.
Taken together, the milestones expected in Q1 2026 mark a structural shift for open banking in the UK. The focus now moves away from defining frameworks to delivering infrastructure that operates reliably at scale. We see success in the next phase depending less on new regulations and more on execution and adoption across real-world use cases.
If you are exploring how open banking could fit into your payments or data strategy, our team is happy to share practical insights from working across the ecosystem. Book a call.