How Open Finance & Secure Data Sharing Fueling Next-Gen Accounting

In 2025, open finance is reshaping how accounting systems operate by connecting banking, investments, insurance, and more into a single, secure ecosystem. Instead of juggling spreadsheets or importing files, businesses and individuals now access integrated financial insights in real time, streamlining bookkeeping and elevating decision-making.

What Open Finance Actually Means

Open finance builds on the foundation of open banking. Where open banking focused on sharing bank account data, open finance expands access to investments, pensions, insurance, and borrowing. This is made possible through secure, permissioned APIs that allow multiple financial services to communicate with accounting platforms. The benefit is control—consumers and businesses decide what data is shared, with whom, and for how long. This shift gives accountants and business owners a more complete, accurate picture of financial health without the risk of outdated or siloed information.

Why Secure Data Sharing Matters for Accounting

The widespread use of APIs has created new opportunities for efficiency, but also new risks. Financial institutions are addressing this by investing in FAPI-compliant frameworks, advanced encryption, and multi-factor authenticationto safeguard shared data. Citi recently demonstrated the value of this approach by cutting incidents of screen-scraping—an outdated and insecure method of pulling bank data—by 95%. By offering direct API access to balances, payroll, invoices, and transactions, they provided a more reliable pipeline for accounting platforms to pull in real-time information without compromising security.

What This Means for Next-Gen Accounting

For accountants and businesses, the payoff is significant. Real-time visibility means balances, transactions, and expenses sync seamlessly across platforms, reducing manual errors and delays. With broader access to financial data, accounting systems can now leverage AI-driven automation to categorize expenses, highlight anomalies, and provide predictive insights into cash flow or tax obligations. This transforms bookkeeping from reactive record-keeping into proactive financial management.

Consent and control are equally important. Open finance puts users in charge of their data, allowing them to grant or revoke access with ease. That transparency fosters trust while ensuring compliance with global privacy standards. For small businesses and entrepreneurs, having all accounts and portfolios consolidated in one place not only saves time but also gives lenders and accountants a holistic view of financial standing—leading to better lending decisions and smarter strategic planning.

Ecosystem Trends and Innovation

Global regulators are accelerating adoption by pushing standardized API frameworks. The UK, EU, Australia, and Singapore have already rolled out open finance regulations, with other regions moving in the same direction. At the same time, data aggregators such as Akoya are building networks that allow institutions and fintechs to connect once and manage many integrations, making the system more scalable and secure.

Still, there are challenges ahead. In the U.S., JPMorgan’s decision to impose fees for API access has raised concerns about potential barriers to innovation. If costs for accessing data rise too high, smaller fintechs and accounting platforms could struggle to offer affordable services, slowing the pace of adoption. Balancing innovation with fair pricing will be critical for keeping open finance accessible to all participants.

Final Thoughts

Open finance is no longer a distant concept—it is actively powering the next generation of accounting systems. Secure APIs, robust consent frameworks, and regulatory support are making it possible for businesses and individuals to connect their financial lives seamlessly. The result is smarter automation, deeper insights, stronger privacy protections, and more accurate financial reporting.