Keynote: Beyond the Obvious - 5 Surprising Open Banking Use Cases
Sarah Häger — Enable Banking
Enable Banking leverages open banking to securely fetch bank data for applications, enhancing products through transaction data combined with other insights. Beyond classic uses—personal finance, lending, onboarding—it enables innovative recruitment checks for risk signals, business verifications assessing payment and legal patterns, and real-time corporate banking decisions. It supports factoring by assessing non-client customer health pre-engagement and boosts insurance offerings by detecting lifestyle changes from purchase patterns. As with location data sharing, transaction data’s perceived value will drive broad adoption and hyper-personalization across sectors.
"At the end of the day, the solutions that are going to be profitable, interesting, and valuable are the ones creating clear value for the end customer by combining transaction data with something else to create new, exciting experiences."
Summary
- Open banking enhances products by combining transaction data with other data for personalized experiences and new value creation. - Transaction data is used in innovative ways such as recruiting to assess risk beyond traditional checks. - Business verification via open banking helps evaluate companies' legitimacy and financial health for safer partnerships. - Real-time transaction data enables instant decision-making in corporate banking, improving customer onboarding and risk management. - Open banking can personalize insurance offers by analyzing purchasing patterns, predicting new insurance needs for customers.
Article
Beyond bank statements: How transaction data is reshaping industries
Sarah Häger reveals five unexpected open banking applications at Nordic Fintech Summit
From hiring decisions to insurance offers, open banking is moving far beyond its original financial management applications, according to Enable Banking's Sarah Häger. In her keynote address at the Nordic Fintech Summit in May 2025, Häger challenged delegates to rethink transaction data's potential across multiple sectors.
"It's time for a shift in mindset," Häger told attendees. "Let's focus on the opportunity, the value proposition, and what great value we can bring to customers."
Transaction data: the new location sharing
Häger drew a compelling parallel to consumer attitudes around location data, noting how resistance has transformed into widespread acceptance over the past decade.
"Ten years ago, there was huge focus on location data – should we share our location with anyone? Why should we share it?" she explained. "Today, we're talking about transaction data. In ten years, we'll be discussing the value gained from today's transaction data use cases."
She argued that just as consumers now freely share location data with services like Uber or Google Maps because of the tangible benefits received, transaction data sharing will follow the same adoption pattern once value propositions become clear.
Recruitment: spotting red flags beyond background checks
Perhaps most surprising among the use cases was open banking's application in recruitment processes. Häger shared how a Swedish company avoided a potentially disastrous hire when transaction analysis revealed concerning financial patterns.
"Recruiters, this is coming next: open banking can reveal high-risk transactions, helping you make smarter hiring decisions beyond credit scores and police records," Häger explained. While traditional background checks showed no issues, transaction data suggested possible links to illegal activities, allowing the company to avoid a potentially costly hiring mistake.
Corporate trust verification evolving beyond credit scores
Business verification represents another frontier where transaction data is proving valuable. Häger predicted significant evolution in how companies assess potential partners.
"In ten years, companies will be verified through open banking, showing if they're trustworthy partners — paying taxes on time or maintaining high legal standards," she said.
This approach would enable businesses and consumers to evaluate potential contractors or partners based on actual financial behaviors, not just credit scores. Häger suggested transaction patterns could reveal everything from tax compliance to litigation frequency, providing a more comprehensive view of business integrity.
Real-time corporate banking decisions
Moving corporate banking from end-of-day information to real-time transaction visibility creates opportunities for instant automated decisions, according to Häger.
"With real-time information and automated processes, you can make instant decisions, turning open banking into magic for corporate banking and customer insight," she said.
This capability extends to factoring companies, which can now evaluate potential clients before establishing relationships by assessing payment patterns and recurring behaviors visible through transaction data.
Personalised insurance offers through spending pattern analysis
The fifth use case focused on how insurers can leverage transaction data to identify life changes and new insurance needs through purchasing patterns.
"In the future, transaction data will be shared like location data today, unlocking immense value by connecting purchasing behavior to personalized insurance and product offerings," Häger explained.
She offered examples such as detecting new pet ownership through pet supply purchases or identifying expectant parents through baby product transactions – creating opportunities for timely, relevant insurance offers.
The value exchange future
Throughout her keynote, Häger repeatedly emphasized that transaction data becomes truly valuable when combined with other information sources to create personalized experiences and solutions.
"The future is coming faster than we expect," she concluded. "Use cases we consider unlikely today will feel normal soon."
The Nordic Fintech Summit, celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, continues to showcase financial technology innovations that are reshaping both financial services and adjacent industries across the region.
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