Thought Leadership

“The success of open banking will drive the data economy” – OBL at Conservative Party Conference 2024

04 October 2024

The Open Banking Limited (OBL) team was in Birmingham this week at Conservative Party Conference, where we co-hosted a panel discussion with Business for Net Zero (B4NZ), focusing on unlocking the data economy. 

Setting the scene 

Kicking off the discussion, Chair and Trustee Marion King shared her insights on how open banking can be used to unlock the vast potential of the data economy. These range from access to green energy, achieving net-zero, and giving users the ability to truly understand their economic situation. 

The event was very well-attended, and we were delighted to be joined by Paul Scully, former Minister for Tech and Digital Economy; Hannah Cool, COO of B4NZ; Emma Pinchbeck, CEO of Energy UK; and Sheree Howard, Executive Director at the Financial Conduct Authority. 

Opening the discussion to the rest of the floor, Paul Scully welcomed Marion’s comments.

It is no accident that the UK has more unicorns than France, Germany and Sweden combined. This is possible because of initiatives such as the pioneering work of open banking.”

Paul Scully, former Minister for Tech and Digital Economy

Highlighting open banking as a public good, Paul championed the work of the previous six years, referencing the support by the previous Government into the open banking framework. He then focused on what lay ahead for the industry, stating that “the next step for the ecosystem was moving from open finance to energy”, advising that this will require strong political leadership from the Government. 

The role of regulation in markets 

He pointed out that the next steps to achieving this change should involve “nudging rather than directing”, because “good regulation creates markets”. 

Emma Pinchbeck agreed with this assessment, explaining to the audience that the UK can tend to “over-regulate rather than under-regulate” in the energy sector, which can stifle innovation.  

Moving to an international focus, the discussion then turned to the rest of the world, where India — Paul highlighted — has moved from a largely unbanked population, where only 8% of the population had bank accounts, to 80% today. This is “due to strong political drive” to improve access to banking services.  

Sheree Howard agreed with Paul’s sentiment that we must be aware of international competition and that a strong political drive is needed, with other countries now catching up with the UK. She continued that, despite this, the UK remains “committed to driving growth and innovation” and is still considered a global leader within the ecosystem.  

Marion agreed that this was reflected in HMRC collecting over £27 billion of taxes through open banking, saying that where strong and good regulation is provided for, significant progress and achievements are made. This was a clear example of “utilising open banking to allow payments to flow”. 

Summarising the lively discussion, Marion highlighted the successful completion of the Roadmap for Open Banking, demonstrating the effectiveness of clear milestones and standards in driving financial innovation. She paid credit to the CMA9 for implementing the CMA Roadmap, speaking highly of how the “infrastructure works incredibly well” along with the positive relationships across the UK financial sector. 

This positive panel discussion on the benefits of smart data underlined what could be learned and leveraged from open banking and achieved in the energy sector, highlighting the economic advantages they can bring to the UK. All panellists acknowledged the importance of the Digital Information and Smart Data Bill in advancing the UK to a successful data-driven economy.  

Echoed in our discussions throughout the week with Conservative MPs, advisers and the Shadow frontbench, OBL highlighted the significant progress of smart data. We also outlined what lies ahead for the economy if we apply the same successful ingredients of open banking to other sectors.