Australia's Open Banking Moment - Why I'm Optimistic About What Comes Next for Lending

Open Banking in Australia has moved from theory to reality.

Billions of secure data calls now sit behind real lending journeys.

And in 2026, non-bank lenders join the picture.

That feels like a genuine inflection point for our industry.

For a long time, Open Banking and the Consumer Data Right felt like something lenders had to do, rather than something they wanted to build with.

There was a lot of groundwork. A lot of discussion about standards, consent and infrastructure. And a fair bit of scepticism about whether it would ever translate into better lending experiences in practice.

Today, that scepticism is getting harder to justify.

From where we sit, building loan management platforms for lenders, Open Banking has clearly moved from concept to production reality.

What's changed

Two things have happened at once.

First, adoption has crossed a tipping point. Open Banking is no longer an edge case or pilot. API volumes are up, active use cases are well established, and lenders are increasingly comfortable relying on CDR data as a core input into credit decisions.

Second, confidence has grown across consumers, lending teams, and platform builders. Data sharing via CDR is better understood, better governed, and meaningfully safer than many of the legacy approaches it's replacing.

We see this directly in how lenders are designing their workflows now. Open Banking is no longer treated as an add-on, it's increasingly assumed as part of the core flow.

Why 2026 matters

The confirmed expansion of CDR to non-bank lending from mid-2026 is, in my view, one of the most positive developments in Australian lending in years. It signals that Open Banking is not just a banking initiative. It's becoming foundational digital infrastructure for the entire lending ecosystem.

For non-bank lenders, this is particularly powerful. Access to high-quality, consented data becomes more consistent and standardised, which means differentiation can move away from plumbing and toward product design, risk strategy and customer experience.

What Open Banking unlocks in practice

Faster, more confident decisions

With real-time, consented transaction data, lenders can move faster without guessing. Income, expenses and liabilities are clearer earlier, improving both conversion and credit quality.

Cleaner digital journeys

We're seeing fewer document uploads, fewer follow-ups, and lower abandonment. When Open Banking is used well, lending finally feels like a modern digital experience instead of a paperwork process.

Better outcomes beyond approval

Some of the most interesting use cases we're seeing aren't at origination at all. With appropriate consent, Open Banking data is being used to support smarter servicing, from earlier stress signals to more proactive borrower engagement.

A quiet shift in lending system design

As Open Banking becomes assumed infrastructure, lending platforms are evolving from systems that simply store loans to systems that continuously interpret data.

Affordability logic needs to be configurable. Decisions need to remain explainable long after they're made. Data freshness becomes an operational concern. Servicing workflows matter just as much as origination.

These details aren't flashy, but they're what make scalable, trustworthy lending possible in a data-rich environment.

Looking ahead with confidence

By the time non-bank lending is fully included in the CDR framework, Australia will have a national, regulated, high-trust data layer actively improving everyday lending.

From a technology perspective, the hard work is largely done. The standards are stable. The ecosystem is real.

Now the opportunity is thoughtful execution.

From where we're building, that's a genuinely positive place for the industry to be.

Andrew Hannam
CEO
InMarket Systems