Open Banking in Africa: What It Means for Businesses Collecting Payments in 2026
Open banking is one of the most consequential shifts in global payment infrastructure of the last decade. Most African businesses are still treating it as a European story. It is not.
FEB 11 - 4 MIN READ
When open banking regulation came into force in Europe under PSD2 in 2018, many businesses outside Europe saw it as a regional banking development. Interesting, but not urgent.
That view made sense then. It makes far less sense in 2026. Open banking has become one of the most important shifts in payment infrastructure because it does three things well: it lowers payment acceptance costs, reduces checkout friction, and creates a regulated way for businesses to access customer financial data with consent.
For businesses operating between Africa and the G20, open banking is no longer a European side story. It is becoming part of the infrastructure conversation.
What Open Banking Means
Open banking allows licensed third parties to access customer financial data and initiate payments directly from bank accounts, with the customer’s explicit consent.
For businesses collecting payments, the most important part is payment initiation. Instead of paying through a card network, a customer can approve a direct bank-to-bank payment through their banking app or online banking interface.
This matters because card payments carry costs: interchange, scheme fees, processor margins, fraud exposure, chargebacks, and settlement delays. Open banking payment initiation bypasses the card network and can move funds directly between bank accounts at a lower cost.
It can also improve trust. Customers do not need to enter card details on a merchant website. They authenticate inside their own bank environment.
Open banking is not just another payment method. It is a shift toward account-to-account infrastructure.
Where Open Banking Stands Today
Europe and the UK remain the most mature open banking markets. PSD2 created the foundation across the EU, while the UK developed its own open banking framework. In these markets, open banking payment initiation is no longer experimental. It is used across bill payments, account funding, subscriptions, e-commerce, and business payments.
For African-facing businesses, this matters because many already collect from European or UK customers while paying out into African markets. Open banking can reduce the cost of collection at one end while local rails handle distribution at the other.
In Africa, the picture is still developing.
Nigeria has been building its open banking framework through the Central Bank of Nigeria. South Africa has seen active industry and regulatory development, with several banks already exposing APIs. Kenya has a strong foundation through M-Pesa and mobile money APIs, even though that is not open banking in the formal regulatory sense.
Across the continent, the direction is clear: more interoperability, more API-based access, and more efficient payment infrastructure.
What This Means for Businesses
If you collect payments from European or UK customers, open banking should be part of your payment method mix. The cost case is straightforward: lower acceptance costs compared with cards.
The conversion case depends on your customers. Open banking works especially well where customers are digitally engaged and comfortable authenticating through their banking app. It is particularly useful for bill payments, subscriptions, account top-ups, high-value e-commerce, and B2B payments.
If you are building for African markets, open banking should shape your roadmap. The frameworks emerging in Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya will influence what becomes possible over the next few years.
The smart move is to build infrastructure that can support account-to-account payments and consent-based financial data access when those capabilities mature.
Why the Data Layer Matters
Open banking is not only about payments. It also enables consented access to financial data.
That matters deeply in African markets, where traditional credit bureau coverage is often limited and many people earn income informally. With customer consent, transaction data can support better credit underwriting, cash-flow analysis, financial management, and personalised financial services.
This is where open banking becomes more than a checkout feature. It becomes infrastructure for inclusion.
The Honest View
Open banking will not solve every African payment challenge. Europe and the UK are mature. African markets are at different stages of readiness. Coverage, bank participation, success rates, and regulation vary by country.
So businesses should ask practical questions:
- Which markets are actually covered?
- Which banks are connected?
- What are the payment initiation success rates?
- How does open banking sit beside cards, mobile money, bank transfers, and local payment methods?
The value is strongest when open banking is part of a broader orchestration layer, not a separate integration.
Why Passpoint
Most businesses operating between Africa and Europe are leaving open banking on the table. They are still paying card costs on European collections that could move through bank-to-bank rails.
Passpoint connects businesses to open banking rails across 24 EU countries and the UK, alongside African payment methods, mobile money, bank transfers, and local rails, through one integration.
That is the point: not another payment method, but an orchestration layer.
One API. One Contract. A cleaner way to connect global collections with African payment infrastructure.
Open banking began as a European regulation. In 2026, it has become a global infrastructure question. For businesses operating across Africa and the G20, it is time to treat it that way.
