UK Open Banking passes One Billion payments milestone

The UK’s Open Banking ecosystem has reached two landmark milestones, surpassing one billion account-to-account payments and 100 billion API calls since the initiative was launched more than eight years ago. The achievements underline the UK’s position as one of the world’s most mature and active Open Banking markets, while highlighting the growing role of API-driven financial services in everyday banking.

UK Open Banking passes One Billion payments 

According to the latest performance data published by Open Banking Limited (OBL), the ecosystem continues to expand at pace. During June 2026, API traffic climbed to a record 2.81 billion calls, representing a 4.4% month-on-month increase and the highest monthly total recorded to date. The figures reflect sustained demand for Open Banking services across payments, financial management and data-sharing applications.

Variable Recurring Payments Continue to Gain Momentum

Open Banking payments remained resilient throughout June, with 40.16 million transactions processed across the UK’s major banking institutions. While traditional Single Domestic Payments edged down by 1.2% to 32.43 million, growth was driven by Sweeping Variable Recurring Payments (sVRPs), which increased 6.7% month-on-month to 7.73 million.

The continued expansion of VRPs is increasingly viewed as one of the most significant developments in the UK’s Open Banking journey, offering consumers and businesses greater flexibility for recurring account-to-account payments while reducing reliance on traditional card payment rails.

Performance and Reliability Continue to Improve

Beyond transaction growth, the latest figures demonstrate the operational maturity of the UK’s Open Banking infrastructure. Average API response times improved to 349 milliseconds, around 50 milliseconds faster than the previous reporting period, while weighted system availability remained exceptionally high at 99.80%.

Henk Van Hulle, Chief Executive Officer of Open Banking Limited, said the milestones demonstrate both the scale and resilience of the ecosystem, adding that Open Banking will continue to play an increasingly important role in supporting competition, innovation and economic growth across UK financial services.

With adoption continuing to accelerate and Open Finance firmly on the horizon, the latest figures suggest the UK has moved well beyond the pilot phase of Open Banking. Instead, it is becoming a core component of the country’s financial infrastructure, supporting millions of consumers and businesses while laying the foundations for the next generation of digital financial services.