Uptake is soaring among mortgage brokers, but closer collaboration needed to push technology to next level
Imagine you have a toy box at home, and only you know what’s inside. Now, suppose you allow a toy store to take a look inside so they can help you discover better toys, more quickly. The toy store can only see what’s in your toy box if you give them permission, and they’re never allowed to remove anything. Your toy box remains secure, and you stay in complete control at all times.
This is how Chin Hui Yeo (pictured, top), chief technology officer at mortgage aggregator Connective, explains the concept of open banking.
Given that Yeo sees open banking as fundamentally changing the way brokers support their clients, gaining a clear understanding of this concept is more crucial than ever.
Brokers who understand open banking, Yeo said in a discussion with MPA, “can offer a better service experience and ensure they remain competitive in a crowded market”.
Far from an esoteric concept, the benefits of open banking are very much tangible – paperwork is significantly reduced when, for example, a broker can source accurate financial data directly from the lender with their client’s consent.
By Yeo’s estimations, brokers can save up to 40 minutes per client by reducing the need for arduous document chasing and manual data entry. “It also helps improve compliance, enhances fraud protection and enables smarter, data driven conversations with clients,” he added.
But it’s not just brokers reaping the benefits.
“For clients, the experience is just as valuable,” said Yeo. “They no longer need to upload bank statements or share login details, which makes the process more secure. Loan approvals can be delivered faster, advice becomes more personalised and customers have greater control over who can see their financial data.”
Connective has made significant advances in integrating open banking into its daily processes. The pace of uptake has been immense – this July, connective noted a seven-fold year-on-year increase in monthly open banking consents.
How does open banking work?
Frollo is an Australian Government Accredited Data Recipient (ADR) under the Open Banking initiative, which operates under the gaze of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
In Frollo’s State of Open Banking 2025 report, the group noted a 100% increase in API calls in the 12 months to July 2025. While not an exact science, this gives a pretty good indication of the rate of open banking uptake in Australia.
Since the formal launch of the Consumer Data Right (CDR) legislation in July 2020 (which is regarded as the genesis of Australia's open banking movement, when the four major Australian banks were required to make certain product and consumer data available to accredited third parties upon consumer request), Frollo has recorded over 3.92 billion API calls. More than 32,000 Australians used Frollo’s open banking platform in the last year.
Ease of use at the customer level is key to this rapid uptake.
For Connective, that means integrating Frollo’s software seamlessly into the aggregator’s CRM. The process is generally done in three stages:
- Broker sends a secure link to the client
- Client clicks on link, selects their bank and links it with a secure password or identifier, ultimately giving permission to share their financial data.
- Within minutes, broker receives verified data like income, expenses and liabilities directly into Mercury Nexus
Work to do on open banking
While open banking is advancing at a rapid clip in Australia, there is still more to be done.
It requires close collaboration between financial institutions, which is often easier said than done.
There is growing willingness across the industry, although challenges remain,” said Yeo. “Major banks such as CBA, Westpac and NAB are actively integrating open banking. At the same time, issues like consent failures during bank authentication are still relatively common.”
Out of more than 11,000 Frollo users, over 88% indicated that unsuccessful bank authorisations were primarily due to login issues, one-time passcode problems, or technical errors.
“Industry bodies and aggregators including Connective are pushing for strong cooperation. Achieving full alignment across all players is still a work in progress,” Yeo said.
In terms of uptake, Australia lags the UK, where nearly one in three adults engage with open banking technology. For reference, around 13% of brokers in Australia actively engage in open banking, per Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia (MFAA) data cited by Frollo.
“There’s still a long way to go before the CDR lives up to its potential and Open Banking can flourish. Progress hasn’t been fast or flashy, but momentum is building,” said Tony Thrassis (pictured, below), Frollo’s head of open banking.
But while open banking is firmly ingrained in the UK financial services industry, Australia is not necessarily behind the curve. “Rather, we are following a different path,” said Yeo.
The UK is more advanced in e-commerce and recurring payments thanks to strong regulatory oversight, but “Australia is expanding open banking beyond financial services into sectors such as energy and telecommunications through the Consumer Data Right (CDR), which is broader in scope than the UK model”, Yeo explained.
The US, meanwhile, “seems to be lagging behind with slower regulatory progress”.
Until recently, the US market relied on voluntary, market-driven data sharing. That being said, “regulatory changes introduced in late 2024 are now shifting the industry away from insecure screen scraping toward consumer-friendly access to financial data”, Yeo said.
Where is open banking heading next?
Frollo believes open banking is only beginning to show its potential.
The CDR is no longer a theory,” the group said in the State of Open Banking 2025 report. “It’s working. And it works best when stakeholders collaborate for the greater good: to improve the financial wellbeing of everyday Australians. In a cost-of-living crisis, the CDR is something we can rally around. It sets Australia apart and helps people take better care of their money.”
The next phase will determine whether the CDR remains a niche product or becomes the foundation for a more inclusive, efficient financial system. New use cases are already emerging beyond home loans, including personal finance, wealth management, and energy.
In the meantime, open banking is gaining widespread support from the broking community
As Anja Pannek, chief executive of the MFAA, said in Frollo’s report: “The technology is here. Importantly, the guardrails are here as well. This is a safer and more secure way for you to deal with your client’s personal information than ever before. That should give you huge surety.”
“Though not perfect, the foundations of the CDR are in place, and it’s time to ramp up implementation,” said Peter White, managing director of the Finance Brokers Association of Australia.
“Personally, I think it’s wrong for (the CDR) to be stalled or slowed by those who are being a little bit precious with the data they hold,” White added. I don’t think that’s right. It’s a failure in our industry… The CDR is here, and it’s here to stay.”
