The battle for Open Banking data infrastructure in the UK has intensified as Plaid and Tink invest heavily in expanding their connectivity beyond the original nine mandated banks. Plaid, which now covers more than 50 UK financial institutions, launched a new pensions data product in September targeting the workplace savings and retirement planning market. Tink, operating under Visa's ownership since 2022, countered by announcing integrations with six additional building societies and a dedicated risk analytics suite for mortgage lenders.

The FCA's consultation on an expanded Smart Data framework — which would extend Open Banking-style data sharing to insurance, pensions, and investments — has raised the commercial stakes considerably. "Whoever controls the data pipes controls the ecosystem," said Helen Child, CEO of Open Banking Excellence. "We're witnessing a land grab that will determine the architecture of UK financial services for the next decade." Both companies are racing to sign exclusive partnerships with wealth platforms, credit reference agencies, and embedded finance providers.

The competition has not been without friction. Several UK banks have raised concerns about the volume of data requests from third-party providers, with Barclays and HSBC reportedly pushing back on screen-scraping practices that predate formal API access. The FCA is expected to publish updated guidance on data access standards by early 2026, which could either entrench the position of established aggregators or open the door to a new generation of specialist open finance providers.