The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced a partnership with London-based fintech Raidiam to further its open finance agenda, supporting the recently launched Smart Data Accelerator and its associated Sprints.
Under the collaboration, Raidiam will provide two key services for the FCA’s Smart Data Accelerator. This includes enabling participants to simulate and test data sharing and offering Smart Data Sprint attendees a stable testing environment that mirrors real-world conditions. The FCA is conducting two focused ‘Sprints’ between November 17, 2025, and February 12, 2026, with one sprint dedicated to mortgages and the other to SME finance. Registration for these sprints remains open until November 2, 2025, for policymakers, businesses, industry players, and international partners.
The Smart Data Accelerator was launched last month in response to government calls for decisive action to advance open banking. The program aims to allow the regulator to test real-world open finance applications. Raidiam has prior experience in facilitating open finance and open insurance initiatives in Brazil.
This initiative follows the FCA’s Open Finance Sprint held in March 2025, which gathered fintechs, consumer advocates, regulators, and technology providers to develop ideas on how open finance could benefit consumers in their everyday lives, according to an FCA statement.
Further backing the initiative, FCA-commissioned research by KPMG and Europe Economics, published earlier this month, found that open banking has established important groundwork for making everyday banking and payments more diverse and accessible. The report indicated that open finance has the potential to expand these benefits to a wider range of financial services products and offerings. However, the report also acknowledged the trade-offs regulators will need to consider to balance benefits and risks. These considerations include data sharing arrangements, the necessary technology infrastructure, and procedures that promote innovation while ensuring consumer protection.
The FCA plans to publish a roadmap for open finance by March 2026 and stated its commitment to continued collaboration with all relevant stakeholders, including the government.
