More than 90 per cent of UK pension holders would use dashboards that consolidated the view of their pensions, savings and investments in one place, according to research by The Investing and Saving Alliance (Tisa) and EY.

Furthermore, 94 per cent of consumers currently using a dashboard would use an Open Finance app if security was guaranteed by a trusted financial institution.

However, the report identified several barriers to more widespread adoption, with mis-selling and unauthorised access to data seen as the biggest issues.

More than eight in 10 (84 per cent) of respondents felt they had insufficient control over the way organisations use their data.

Tisa and EY also found that customers who have access to all the information they need were almost 10 times more likely to switch to better value deals when offered.

Pensions dashboard apps were seen as the most valuable product type, according to the research.

Their report concluded with recommendations for the governance model for Open Finance, noting that due to the diversity of products and solutions, and the organisations supplying them, it would be very difficult for a single body to cover the full scope.

One ‘plausible model’, according to the paper, was that all entities could sit under the umbrella of the Smart Data Function, which would then provide a foundation of interoperability to supper existing entities, such as Open Banking and the pensions dashboards, and help in establishing bodies for Open Insurance, Open Savings, investments and pensions, and others.

“Consumers will be able to easily and securely view their financial position by drawing data from multiple providers enabling them take more control of their finances,” commented Tisa Digital chief executive, Harry Weber Brown.

“Financial service providers will be able to build better customer propositions utilising open data and shared services. This presents revenue generation opportunities and cost savings in data gathering processes for financial services.

“But we should be clear about the barriers to creating a world-class Open Finance ecology. The security of private data must be assured and significant investment made into designing user-friendly and open APIs. Core principles for any Open Finance solutions must consider affordability, particularly to ensure accessibility for smaller members, a fair allocation of costs and the capacity for ongoing development.

“Tisa’s OSIP programme has been trialling a number of responsible solutions to these questions, and I would like to take the opportunity today to invite the industry to participate in our initiatives and pool resources and information to create a world-leading Open Finance framework, together with the regulators and the government.”

EY partner, Jason Whyte, added: “The UK was a world leader in Open Finance when the Open Banking regime launched in 2018, but the expected expansion has not yet materialised. With Smart Data included in this year’s Queen’s Speech, however, we expect the legislative and regulatory frameworks to enable – and compel – Open Finance to take shape more quickly, and it is a good time for industry players to engage with the agenda and start building it into their strategy.

“While a core group of early movers are now moving into beta testing Tisa’s model for Open Finance through OSIP, we realised that many others did not have a strong understanding of what Open Finance is, what it aims to achieve and how it affects the industry. Our work with Tisa on this report aims to address this gap and act as a resource for firms as they start to consider the challenges and opportunities that Open Finance will present their businesses.”

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