Open Banking & Open Finance
8 min read

Open Banking Isn't About APIs—It's About Process Ownership

APIs without orchestration create compliance, not value. True monetization comes from embedding open banking capabilities into customer journeys—not just exposing data endpoints.

The Global API Reality Check

Market Reality: API Exposure vs API Value

According to Accenture's 2024 Banking Survey, 73% of banks have implemented open banking APIs, yet only 18% report meaningful revenue impact. The gap between implementation and monetization is process orchestration.

Deloitte's Open Finance Report projects $43B in global open banking revenue opportunities by 2026, but most banks capture less than 5%. The winners embed APIs into journeys; the losers treat them as standalone compliance projects.

73%
Banks with Open Banking APIs
Only 18% See Revenue Impact
Accenture 2024
$43B
Global Open Banking Revenue by 2026
Most Banks Capture <5%
Deloitte Report
6.2x
Higher Engagement
When APIs Embedded in Journeys
McKinsey Study

Why APIs Alone Don't Create Value

Siloed Implementation

The Problem

APIs built by IT teams without integration into business processes or customer journeys

The Solution

Unified platform where APIs are embedded into onboarding, lending, and payment orchestration

Business Impact

4.5x higher ROI on open banking investments

Manual Orchestration

The Problem

Customer journeys still require multiple systems and manual handoffs between data retrieval and action

The Solution

Automated workflow engine that orchestrates API calls within real-time decision flows

Business Impact

70% reduction in manual touchpoints

No Journey Context

The Problem

APIs expose data but don't understand customer intent, state, or next-best-action

The Solution

AI-powered journey orchestration that uses API data to drive personalized customer experiences

Business Impact

6x higher conversion on product offers

Limited Use Cases

The Problem

Focus only on account information and payment initiation, missing lending and onboarding opportunities

The Solution

Comprehensive embedding across credit decisions, KYC verification, and bill payments

Business Impact

300% increase in open banking revenue per customer

How Process Ownership Transforms APIs

Embedded Account Aggregation in Lending

Retrieve transaction history and analyze cash flow patterns directly within loan application flows—no manual document uploads

70% reduction in document collection time, 45% faster approvals

Identity Verification Through Banking Data

Match customer information against live bank account data during onboarding to reduce fraud and eliminate manual verification

60% lower KYC costs, 90% decrease in fraudulent accounts

Payment Initiation in Bill Payment Flows

Allow customers to pay from any account at any bank without manual linking or card entry—embedded directly in payment journeys

40% increase in payment completion, 30% lower processing costs

Spending Insights for Product Recommendations

Analyze transaction data to understand spending patterns and offer personalized products at the right moment in the customer journey

5x higher conversion on offers, 35% increase in cross-sell revenue

Learn more about why most banks fail at open banking monetization and what successful banks do differently.

Case Study: From Compliance to Monetization

Before Process Orchestration

  • APIs built but underutilized (<5% adoption)
  • Manual orchestration across 4 separate systems
  • 70% customer drop-off during data verification
  • Zero revenue from open banking APIs

After Embedded APIs

  • 85% of customers use open banking features
  • Single unified platform for all journeys
  • 12% drop-off rate (6x improvement)
  • $2.3M annual revenue from embedded banking

APIs Are Infrastructure, Not Strategy

Open banking creates value when APIs become invisible infrastructure inside customer journeys—not standalone capabilities that require manual orchestration. The banks winning with open banking aren't building better APIs; they're building better processes that happen to use APIs.

According to Boston Consulting Group, banks that embed open banking into core processes see 4.5x higher ROI than those treating it as a standalone channel. The difference is process ownership—the ability to orchestrate data, decisions, and actions without forcing customers to do the integration work.

The question isn't whether your bank should implement open banking. It's whether you'll treat it as compliance or transformation—and that depends entirely on orchestration.

Ready to Monetize Open Banking?

Discover how BankBuddy's platform embeds open banking APIs into lending, onboarding, and payment journeys—delivering value from day one.

Continue Reading: Open Banking Series