Low-Code Open Banking: Why the Real Challenge Is Implementation, Not Talent

As open banking frameworks expand globally, a new challenge is coming into focus: not regulation, but execution. While much of the industry conversation has centred on compliance and standards, experts now argue that the real bottleneck lies in institutions’ ability to implement and scale API-driven services.

According to Irfan Ahmed, Regional Business Solutions Director at BPC, the issue often described as a “talent gap” is, in reality, an implementation gap.

From Regulation to Real-World Delivery

Open banking adoption is accelerating across key markets. In the UK, more than 17 million users are now connected to open banking services, with billions of pounds in value delivered across payments, lending, and savings.

In Australia, the Consumer Data Right has reached near-universal coverage of consumer accounts, while in the UAE, open finance is being built around mandatory participation and shared infrastructure.

However, once regulatory frameworks are established, the challenge shifts inward—toward building, maintaining, and scaling API connectivity within institutions.

The Operational Strain Behind APIs

For many banks, API integration is no longer a one-time project. It has become a continuous operational function involving partner onboarding, system updates, monitoring, and compliance management.

This ongoing workload places significant strain on internal teams. While large institutions may have the resources to manage it, mid-tier banks and fast-growing fintechs often struggle to keep pace.

The result is a growing gap between ambition and execution. Many organisations have strong ideas and strategic intent, but lack the capacity to turn them into reliable, live services while maintaining existing operations.

Capacity Defines Market Participation

The ability to manage ongoing API delivery is increasingly determining which institutions can fully participate in open banking ecosystems.

Banks with sufficient resources can rapidly deploy new services, onboard partners, and respond to regulatory changes. Others face delays, forcing them to prioritise only essential or low-risk projects.

This dynamic is gradually widening the gap between leading institutions and the rest of the market—not due to a lack of innovation, but due to limited delivery capacity.

Low-Code and BaaS as Enablers

To address this challenge, the industry is turning toward low-code and no-code solutions, which simplify API integration and reduce reliance on large engineering teams.

These tools enable product teams to configure and manage services with minimal custom development, significantly lowering the operational burden.

Additionally, API Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) models are gaining traction. By shifting integration, versioning, and monitoring responsibilities to managed platforms, institutions can focus on delivering customer-facing services rather than maintaining infrastructure.

BPC’s SmartVista Approach

BPC has been advancing this model through its SmartVista platform, designed to reduce the complexity of open banking implementation.

Built on a cloud-friendly, modular architecture using microservices and containerisation, SmartVista enables scalable deployment through technologies such as Kubernetes and OpenShift.

The platform also features a unified Open API framework, sandbox environments, and low-code/no-code integration tools, allowing banks and fintechs to accelerate development and simplify ongoing API management.

By reducing the need for extensive custom integration work, SmartVista aims to make open banking more accessible—particularly for smaller and mid-tier institutions.

The Future of Open Finance Participation

As open banking evolves into broader open finance ecosystems, the focus is shifting from regulatory readiness to operational capability.

Ahmed argues that participation will ultimately depend on how easy it is for institutions to deploy, manage, and scale services—not just on their willingness to adopt new frameworks.

Low-code platforms, no-code workflows, and managed service models are expected to play a critical role in widening access and enabling more institutions to participate meaningfully.

Beyond Regulation: Enabling Scale

The next phase of open finance will not be defined solely by regulation, but by execution.

For the ecosystem to expand beyond the largest players, the industry must reduce the complexity of delivery and lower the operational barriers to entry.

In this context, the real challenge is not a shortage of talent—but the need for simpler, more scalable implementation models that allow institutions of all sizes to participate in the future of digital finance.