Strategy Talk: The effect of the EU Competitiveness and Simplification Initiatives on FIDA Complete Overhaul
Alan Goodrich (ERI) & Sarah Häger (Enable Banking)
FIDA's implementation faces legacy banks' pushback, requesting reduced data scope and shorter data history—from ten to five years—citing technical complexity and limited added value. Despite lobbying, FIDA aims to extend open banking into open financial services, fostering personalized offers, real-time data sharing, and consumer data control via dashboards, enhancing trust. Gradual product-phase rollouts are preferred over outright delays. Strict API-based data sharing is favored over screen scraping to ensure customer control and innovation, with EU urged to pursue a balanced, phased regulatory approach despite industry resistance.
"Sharing data enables new products, personalized solutions, and real-time services—it's a huge mindset shift from protecting to sharing, unlocking creativity and value. Without pushing FIDA, we risk a second wave of screen scraping and losing consumer control over data."
Summary
- FIDA faces resistance mainly from legacy banks due to high costs and complex data and history requirements. - FIDA aims to shift from open banking to open financial services, expanding data scope beyond banking. - Ten years of data history is debated; five years may suffice for most financial products. - Gradual approach recommended: start with simpler products/data scope, expand over time. - Real-time, continuous data access and transparent user dashboards are key for trust and value creation.
Article
EU financial data initiative faces crossroads as industry resistance mounts
Legacy banks clash with innovators over the future of open finance at Nordic Fintech Summit
In a wide-ranging discussion that exposed fault lines in Europe's financial services industry, experts at the Nordic Fintech Summit revealed how the EU's Financial Data Access (FIDA) framework is encountering significant headwinds from established banks, even as proponents argue it represents the future of consumer-focused finance.
Speaking at the summit in May 2025, Alan Goodrich of ERI and Sarah Häger of Enable Banking outlined how the initiative - designed to extend open banking principles across the financial services spectrum - has become entangled in a complex web of lobbying efforts and technical concerns.
"I see a lot of things repeating from open banking and from PSD2," said Häger, referring to the EU's previous payment services directive. "I understand that the bigger banks are heavily lobbying against it, because for them it means a lot of new data categories that need to get built."
The battle over data scope and history
One of the most contentious aspects of FIDA concerns how much historical data financial institutions should be required to make available through standardised interfaces. Current proposals call for up to ten years of customer data history, a requirement that has provoked strong opposition.
Goodrich, who serves on digital strategy committees in Luxembourg's banking and fund industry associations, acknowledged that compromise might be necessary on this point.
"I don't see any case where ten years is a necessity in comparison to five years," he said. "If it's an investment account, it's sufficient to see five years back of that performance. If it's insurance, it's more than enough to see five years back."
Häger suggested a practical middle ground: "That'd be a very fair compromise, because then the banks need to lift up five years of data, not ten years, but then they're additionally building on top."
From protection to sharing: a cultural shift
The resistance to FIDA reflects a deeper cultural challenge for traditional financial institutions, according to the speakers. Banking has historically been built around protecting assets and information, making the transition to data sharing particularly difficult.
"Most people are so used to how banking has been working, and we have to remember that banks have been around for hundreds of years," said Häger. "Their main job has been to protect—initially, protecting physical money, then digital money. Now there's been a huge mindset shift in most of the bankers, moving from protecting to sharing."
This cultural revolution is particularly challenging for segments of the industry that haven't previously been exposed to open banking principles.
"That mindset shift is huge, and now it's hitting verticals in banking that have never seen sharing before, that don't think that sharing is caring," Häger added.
Real-time access and customer control
Another flashpoint in the FIDA debate concerns real-time access to data and the implementation of customer dashboards. While some institutions are pushing to limit continuous data access, both speakers emphasised the importance of immediacy and transparency for building consumer trust.
"I find that brilliant," said Häger about the proposed customer dashboards that would allow users to visualise and control their data sharing permissions. "That part is something I really, really look forward to—to get that overview of with whom have I shared this account and this information."
The speakers compared this functionality to location data permissions on smartphones, suggesting that similar visibility in financial services would empower consumers while building trust in the ecosystem.
The spectre of screen scraping
A significant concern raised during the discussion was that without proper implementation of FIDA, the industry might see a resurgence of screen scraping – a technique where third parties access data by essentially mimicking user behaviour rather than through secure APIs.
"If we're not pushing FIDA, all we're going to get is the second wave of screen scraping or reverse engineering," warned Häger. "Screen scraping is not optimal: consumer doesn't fully control the data, companies don't have control, banks don't have control or overview."
This represents a step backward from the EU's vision, according to Häger: "One of the main reasons for PSD2, beyond technology updates and pushing innovation, was to get rid of screen scraping."
Finding a middle path
Despite the challenges, both speakers advocated for maintaining FIDA's core vision while adopting a pragmatic implementation approach. They suggested that a phased rollout focusing on different products and data scopes could balance innovation demands with practical challenges.
"I would make it a gradual approach," said Häger when asked what she would recommend if she were in the EU's position. "I would not make the CRS selection live or die, but do it in phases."
Crucially, she emphasised the importance of commitment to the end goal: "What I would demand as EU is: what is your roadmap, what is your implementation plan, how do you want to get to the end goal—not saying 'no, you don't need to'."
As the EU continues its deliberations on FIDA amid competing pressures from industry associations and consumer advocates, the discussion at the Nordic Fintech Summit highlighted that what's at stake goes beyond technical specifications. The debate touches on fundamental questions about the future of finance, consumer rights, and the balance between innovation and stability in one of Europe's most critical sectors.
Part of Nordic Fintech Summit