Explore how open finance could simplify mortgage journeys, and improve access to finance and financial resilience for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
As part of our Smart Data Accelerator[2], we brought together 17 firms to explore open finance solutions for mortgages and SME finance.
We ran 2 TechSprints on these priority use cases for open finance between November 2025 and February 2026.
Firms used synthetic data to develop and test innovative solutions in a secure, simulated environment.
Delivered in partnership with NayaOne, BigSpark and Raidiam, the programme enabled extensive hands‑on experimentation, with participants making over 92,000 data calls.
Both TechSprints concluded with a showcase day in February 2026, where firms demonstrated their solutions and shared practical insights.
Overall, the TechSprints generated valuable evidence on:
- Where smart data can add value.
- Where frictions remain.
- What data, infrastructure, standards and safeguards are likely to be needed as open finance develops.
At the end of this page, you can watch demos of the solutions developed by the firms who tested with us.
Video: TechSprint highlights
Download a transcript (PDF)[3].
Smart Data Accelerator: how we enable open finance
Our Smart Data Accelerator is designed to develop policy in an agile way, based on evidence.
It builds on our March 2025 Open Finance Sprint[4], which explored the foundations needed for data‑driven financial services.
Through practical experimentation, the Smart Data Accelerator strengthens our evidence base and enables a more dynamic policy and regulatory thinking on open finance.
Key insights: infrastructure is vital
The TechSprints provided practical evidence on what it takes for open finance to develop in ways that deliver real value.
Innovation depends not only on access to data, but on the infrastructure, standards and trust mechanisms that allow firms to use data safely, reuse it effectively and apply it across a range of financial services contexts.
Participants worked with many of the same underlying datasets yet developed very different propositions, highlighting the importance of building common foundations. This points to the value of a shared infrastructure and data layer that can support the emergence of multiple use cases over time.
Portable data
Reusable data emerged as a cross-cutting theme, highlighting interoperable data portability as a strategic issue. Participants explored how data could be packaged for repeated use across parties and stages of a journey, increasing the importance of governance around permissions, consent and digital verification.
AI and open finance
The prototypes showed the growing interdependency between open finance and AI.
As AI becomes more reliant on rich, trusted and permissioned data, open finance can provide an important foundation for more tailored, responsive services that are useful for decision-making. At the same time, this increases the importance of frameworks that support accountability, trust and explainability (the ability to describe an AI model's internal workings or outcomes in understandable terms).
Consent and verification
Finally, the TechSprints underlined that future progress will depend on collaboration. Clear approaches to consent, identity and verification will be essential, alongside continued work on standards and guardrails that can support innovation at scale.
SME Finance TechSprint
The SME finance TechSprint explored how smart data and open finance could help small businesses:
- Access finance more easily.
- Manage cashflow more effectively.
- Improve resilience and financial decision-making.
Problem statements
We asked firms to focus on finding solutions to these issues.
1. SME growth – lending and access to finance
Explore how standardised, consent-driven data sharing could improve visibility of SME financial health and enable more inclusive access to finance.
2. SME financial resilience and management
Focus on how data and technology could support better forecasting, earlier identification of financial stress, and improved business planning.
Solutions and demos: SME finance
Expand the sections to watch a 2-minute demo from each firm.
Mortgages TechSprint
The Mortgages TechSprint focused on open finance’s potential to:
- Enable more personalised mortgage journeys.
- Improve affordability and eligibility assessments.
- Reduce duplication and friction.
- Support better consumer decision-making.
Problem statements
We asked firms to focus on finding solutions to these issues.
1. Simplified and personalised mortgage journeys
Explore how open finance could streamline processes and improve switching and remortgaging experiences.
2. Supporting mortgage overpayments
Examine how better data could help consumers make informed decisions about overpaying and reducing long-term debt.
Solutions and demos: mortgages
Expand the sections to watch a 2-minute demo from each firm.
