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New research findings by UK’s Juniper Research, released today, say that the value of global payment transactions facilitated by Open Banking will exceed $116 billion in 2026, from just under $4 billion in 2021. The research identified Open Banking-facilitated payments, where payments are made directly from bank accounts, as a growing threat to the dominance of cards within eCommerce.

While card payments are well established, leveraging permissioned access to bank accounts can reduce fraud risks due to strict KYC (Know Your Customer) rules, Juniper Research said in a statement it sent to Financial Nigeria. The research recommends payment providers partner with Open Banking API providers to reduce risks of disintermediation.

The extraordinary growth rate of over 2,800 percent over the next five years will be driven by increasing user awareness of Open Banking features, supported by greater deployment within Europe, as vendors build on PSD2 (Second Payment Services Directive) APIs to deliver expanding services, Juniper Research said.

According to “Open Banking: Key Opportunities, Vendor Strategies & Market Forecasts 2021 – 2026”, Europe will account for over 75 percent of Open Banking payments users globally in 2026; demonstrating the head-start that PSD2 has given this market. However, the report recommends that API vendors look beyond regulatory minimum requirements to develop advanced use cases such as aggregation of additional products, including loans, credit cards and mortgages, as awareness builds.

Research co-author Damla Sat explained: “While PSD2 is a great starting point, it is not the end goal for Open Banking – supportive regulation must be a platform for much greater innovation. The race is on for vendors to build the most compelling capabilities for the future of Open Finance.”

The research found recent governmental support within the US will stimulate the growth of Open Banking, and the market will require payments players to develop new capabilities quickly to capitalise. As such, acquisitions and partnerships are expected to intensify, so vendors can meet these evolving requirements quickly, rather than developing their own solutions over time.