Open Finance and Consumer Protection: uneasy bedfellows

This article examines Open Finance and the risks that it poses for consumer protection. To exist, Open Finance needs enabling legislation. EU policy, as well as actual and proposed legislation, point to empowering consumers and give them control over their data. The traditional role of data in financial services markets is examined, as well as the transformative role of new data technologies to deliver new market structures. Drawing from the experience of Open Banking, the GDPR and the proposal for a Data Act this article questions to what extent the EU legal instruments are capable of delivering the goal, and consumers are factually empowered, remain in control of their data and are protected against the main risks of data-driven finance and the digital domain, where vulnerability is likely to be the norm. It shows how other jurisdictions such as the United Kingdom engage in a different approach to suggest a paradigm shift in the EU regulatory approach.