FiDA regulation: A bank guide to the Financial Data Access regulation

Towards the end of 2025, banks operating within the EU will need to start preparing for the upcoming Financial Data Access (FiDA) regulation. This regulation will require banks to share more of their customers’ financial data with third parties.

Unlike the PSD2 (and upcoming PSD3) regulation, which only covers payment account data, FiDA lets customers share much more of their financial information - from loans and investments to pensions and insurance.

The regulation will impact DACH banks in some meaningful ways. It will enable competitors, require digital channels to be updated and even change how banks maintain their customer relationships.

In this article, we’ll explain what FiDA is, what its goals are, its implementation schedule and how banks can effectively prepare.

The Financial Data Access (FiDA) regulation is an EU Commission initiative that will create a comprehensive open finance ecosystem. It builds upon the open banking foundations established by PSD2 and its planned successor, PSD3.

The goal of FiDA is to create a secure European data space for sharing financial information between institutions, providing consumers with full control over their financial data and encouraging innovation and competition in the financial sector.

FiDA will require banks to share more than just payment account data, as is currently required. It will also include savings, loans, investments, insurance, pensions and even crypto.

The regulation will also require banks to build ‘permission dashboards’ that allow customers to view and manage their shared financial data.

The Financial Data Access regulation aims to address several systemic challenges in the EU financial sector, such as data accessibility, consumer rights and market competition.

• Eliminating data silos: Currently, consumer financial data is scattered across different providers and is hard to share with third parties. FiDA will connect these separate ‘silos’ of data (with the customer’s permission) using a standardised real-time API, providing consumers with a more complete picture of their finances.
• Providing consumers with more control: Existing regulations like PSD2 don’t enable consumers to manage all their financial data. FiDA will provide more granular management by allowing consumers to grant and revoke provider access to a much broader set of financial information.
• Making consumer finance easier: Thanks to easier data sharing, customers will find it simpler and faster to complete traditionally admin-heavy tasks like getting a loan approved, transferring an investment portfolio or getting a clear overview of their finances.
• Boosting competition: Because FiDA will make it easier for customers to share their data, it will also be easier for customers to compare and switch financial providers. This will play to the advantage of newer fintechs, which have often struggled to compete due to limited access to customer data. Banks will therefore need to fight harder to attract and retain their customers.

The Financial Data Access regulation was originally proposed by the EU Commission in June 2023. It’s currently progressing through the legislative process.

Once FiDA is finalised and passed into law, it will be implemented in three phases:

• TBC 2025: The regulations get finalised, and banks and other financial institutions start preparing.
• Q4 2027 (phase 1): Banks will need to enable the sharing of consumer credit agreements​, accounts​, savings​ and motor insurance.
• Q3 2028 (phase 2): Banks must share residential mortgage credit agreements​, investments in financial instruments, crypto assets​, personal pension products and entry knowledge tests.
• Q3 2029 (phase 3): Banks must share creditworthiness assessments, other credit agreements, non-motor insurance​, insurance-based investment products​ and insurance-based individual pension products​.

Austrian and German banks will have to comply with FiDA as each phase is implemented. Because Switzerland is outside the EU, only local banks that operate within the EU will need to comply with FiDA as per the phased schedule.

The Financial Data Access regulation will have a big impact on the EU’s financial services sector. Competition for customers will increase, as will consumers’ expectations of their banks. There will be winners and losers.

To ensure banks benefit from the changes, they should:

• Start the conversation early: While implementation may be some years away, banks should start planning now to ensure there’s plenty of time to understand the upcoming requirements and create an effective transition strategy.
• Develop a clear strategy: Once banks understand whether they’ll be providers of data, users of data to create new services or both, they’ll be able to more effectively plan a strategy that guides their investments and partnerships.
• Update digital channels: Banks will need to update both web and mobile banking platforms to display permission controls and make data sharing transparent.
• Rethink customer relationships: FiDA will help customers share more of their data with third party providers more easily, making it more challenging for banks to hold their customers’ loyalty. Banks should therefore consider how they can add further value to their existing proposition (e.g. by providing more comprehensive or more personalised services).

Want to learn how Netcetera can help your bank stay up to date with regulatory changes? Get in touch with our experts.