Will the EU Freeze Out Big Tech From Open Finance?

European Union lawmakers are negotiating a regulation known as the Financial Services Data Access Act (FiDA), which aims to broaden data-sharing between banks and thor-party service provviders beyond payments to encompass consumer financial products like mortgages, investments, and insurance. 

The regulation is a follow-on to the EU’s efforts over the last decade to expand Open Banking allowing the secure sharing of financial data via application programming interfaces (APIs). The initiative, which has been highly successful throughout the bloc, started with the Second Payment Services Directive (PSD2) which set the technical and security standards essential to creating a single digital market. 

However, in mid-September, the Financial Times reported that key EU member states—most notably Germany—are pushing to exclude Big Tech firms from accessing consumer financial data.

Sovereignty and competition in the EU

In this context, Big Tech includes Microsoft, Apple, Alphabet, Amazon and Meta—all of which are US-headquartered, prompting some EU lawmakers to consider the implications for digital sovereignty and competitiveness. Proponents of the ban argue that granting US tech giants access to sensitive financial data will further entrench their market power and undermine Europe’s own growing digital economy. The fear is that, equipped with vast databases of European citizens, Big Tech could easily outcompete European companies and undermine the EU’s goal of building an independent, homegrown financial ecosystem.

Many incumbent banks are also pushing to exclude Big Tech for two main reasons. They too fear losing their competitive advantage, as well as not having enough time to adapt to Open Banking while Big Tech soars ahead. Another widespread concern is the creation of so-called ‘super apps’ that combine social media and commerce and financial services, potentially circumventing the EU’s stringent data privacy and consumer-protection rules—two areas where regulation is significantly stricter and more unform than in the US.

Of course, there are counter-arguments as well, and not just from Big Tech and its subsidiaries. Many opponents warn that it could limit consumer choice and stifle innovation by depriving consumers of new services like Apple Pay and Google Pay. Critics have also pointed out that Big Tech has successfully partnered with banks using the existing Open Banking infrastructure and that, with proper oversight, rather than outright exclusion, this could mitigate concerns about market dominance.

There’s also a geopolitical factor. US President Donald Trump has, on several occasions, threatened to levy tariffs on the EU for excluding Big Tech from the bloc’s financial data-sharing systems. One thing remains clear: Europe is treading a fine line between advancing its digital sovereignty and maintaining its international trade relations—especially with the US.