Australia's Open Banking initiative, driven by the Consumer Data Right (CDR) legislation, empowers consumers by allowing them to securely share their personal and financial data with accredited third parties through APIs. The CDR framework promotes data interoperability across sectors, extending beyond banking to energy and telecommunications.

Brazil leads the way in Open Banking adoption in Latin America - now transitioning into open finance. In a short time, Brazil achieved remarkable milestones, with 22 million customers embracing Open Banking sharing personal and banking data among financial institutions. This progress is attributed to Brazil's commitment to full interoperability, robust API standards, and customer journey guidelines.

Canada is on track to implement open banking by the end of 2023, with exploration of its potential since 2018. Abraham Tachjian, leading the Government's Open Banking initiative, is supported by an advisory committee. Caspian One has played a pivotal role in advancing open banking, collaborating closely with major banks, credit unions, and the Canadian Government. Our first-to-market FDX open banking solution for a major bank received full government support.

Europe has been a trailblazer in Open Banking since implementing the Payment Services Directive 2 (PSD2). In 2018, PSD2 made open banking a legal requirement, sparking data sharing between banks and third parties and fostering innovative financial services. Now, the EU is taking open banking to the next level with the proposed PSD3. PSD3 aims to combat payment fraud, enhance consumer rights, ensure equal access to payment systems, expand Open Banking services, and drive innovation. These regulatory updates will boost Open Banking adoption, improve API performance, and strengthen law enforcement.

Hong Kong has enthusiastically adopted Open Banking, with the introduction of the Open API Framework by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA). This framework, implemented in four phases, encourages banks to develop APIs and collaborate with third-party providers.

India has embraced innovation through the India Stack. A government-led initiative designed to address the country's challenges using open APIs. This stack, built on the Aadhaar national identity platform, comprises three layers: Presence-less Layer (Aadhaar), Paperless Layer (digital locker and digital signature), and Cashless Layer (Unified Payments Interface - UPI).

Japan's journey into Open Banking was initiated by the revision of the Banking Act in June 2018, which mandated Japanese banks to develop open APIs within two years. The Financial Services Agency (FSA) introduced policies to enhance planning capabilities, customer services, and transparency in bank initiatives.

Mexico's Open Banking journey is fuelled by a commitment. To address financial inclusion challenges and empower its population. With over 42 million unbanked individuals, Open Banking has the potential to extend financial services to underserved communities.

New Zealand is set to establish an Open Banking framework by 2024, following the successful model of Australia's Consumer Data Rights (CDR) standards. Open Banking aims to empower customers to share their financial data with other service providers, simplifying mortgage rate comparisons, loan applications, and bank switching. This initiative will provide consumers with greater control over their financial data and promote competition in the banking sector.

Nigeria is experiencing a surge in Open Banking. Thanks to the Central Bank of Nigeria's (CBN) issuance of operational guidelines. These guidelines facilitate customer-permission led data sharing between banks and third-party firms, enabling customer-centric financial products and services.

Singapore has embraced Open Banking with a market-driven approach. Promoting APIs for innovation and interoperability in the financial sector. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) plays a supportive role, offering the API Playbook as guidance. While not enforcing standardization, the playbook identifies valuable APIs, offers best practices, and maintains an open API registry. Initiatives like APIX, SGFInDex, and SGTraDex further open banking opportunities.

Open Banking is gaining momentum in the United States. Driven by digital banking technologies that expand market access for consumers and businesses. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is working on a personal data rights rule to empower consumers, facilitating easier bank switching and loan applications.

The UK stands at the forefront of open banking innovation, having pioneered this transformative initiative. It all began in 2016 with a report by the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), highlighting a lack of competition among the largest banks (CMA9) and limited choices for customers. In response, the UK government mandated the CMA9 to grant licensed third-party providers (TPPs) access to customer data through a single security protocol, laying the foundation for the open banking ecosystem.