Open Finance: What It Is and How to Control Your Money

Open Finance: What It Is and How to Control Your Money

Imagine being able to see, in a single app, all your bank accounts, credit cards, investments and loans — regardless of how many financial institutions you use. Now imagine using this information to compare interest rates in real time, transfer a loan to better terms and receive credit offers truly personalized to your profile. This isn’t science fiction or a startup promise: it’s Open Finance, the system that Brazil’s Central Bank has been implementing since 2021 and which, in 2026, is already in full operational maturity in the country.

The central concept is simple: your financial data belongs to you, not the bank. Open Finance creates the rules and technical infrastructure for you to authorize the sharing of this information between different institutions, safely and in a standardized manner. In practice, this breaks the monopoly that large banks had over their customers’ financial history — and opens space for more competition, better services and, potentially, more favorable conditions for the consumer.

But, like any financial innovation, Open Finance has important nuances. Understanding how it works, what the real benefits are, the risks involved and how to use it consciously is what separates those who leverage the tool from those who become exposed without realizing it. In this article, we’ll cover all of this clearly and practically.

What is Open Finance and how it emerged in Brazil

The Open Finance is the evolution of Open Banking, an initiative regulated by Brazil’s Central Bank (BCB) through Joint Resolution No. 1, of 2020. The difference between the two terms is in scope: while Open Banking focused on traditional banking data (accounts, transactions, credit), Open Finance expands the scope to include investments, foreign exchange, insurance, pension plans and other financial products.

Implementation in Brazil was divided into phases. Over the years, the sharing of registration data, transaction data, payment initiation and, in more advanced phases, the sharing of investment data and insurance products were progressively enabled. In 2026, the Brazilian ecosystem is recognized internationally as one of the most advanced in the world, alongside the UK’s experience.

Participating institutions are regulated by the Central Bank and, in the case of investment products, also by the Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM). This means that all data flow occurs within a regulated environment — it’s not just any app that can simply “pull” your financial information.

How it works in practice: consent is yours

The fundamental principle of Open Finance is explicit user consent. No institution can access your data without your clear and specific authorization. Here’s how the process works:

1. You access an app or platform that offers Open Finance-based services — it could be a digital bank, a fintech for financial management, a brokerage or even your current bank’s app.
2. You choose which data you want to share: checking accounts, cards, investments, transaction history, registration data, etc.
3. You select the originating institutions — the banks or financial companies where this data is stored.
4. You authorize the sharing directly in the originating institution’s app, using the authentication you already use (password, biometrics, etc.).
5. Consent has a set deadline — maximum of 12 months, and can be renewed or revoked at any time.
6. You can cancel access whenever you want, directly in the app of the institution that received the data or in the Central Bank’s portal.

It’s important to understand that the receiving institution does not store your data forever: it only accesses what was authorized, for the time it was authorized. And you have the right to request deletion of this information after revoking consent.

What you can do with Open Finance

With the ecosystem in full operation, the concrete possibilities for the consumer are diverse:

• Consolidated financial overview: aggregate accounts from multiple banks in a single dashboard, making it easier to control your budget. This is especially useful if you have accounts in two or three different banks.
• Credit comparison based on your actual history: a financial company can analyze your real financial behavior — not just your credit score — and offer rates more suited to your profile. To find out the market reference rates, consult the Central Bank at bcb.gov.br, which publishes monthly average rates for credit operations.
• Simplified credit portability: if you have a loan with high interest rates, you can authorize another institution to access the data from that contract and offer portability conditions — a process that was once bureaucratic and can now be initiated digitally.
• Payment initiation: pay bills or transfer money directly from a third-party app without needing to open your bank’s app, using Pix or other methods.
• Investment management: brokerages and investment platforms can have a complete view of your portfolio, even if your assets are distributed across different custodians.

To better take advantage of these resources, it’s worth combining them with solid financial organization. See how to organize your financial life with an annual plan so that Open Finance becomes a tool within a larger strategy.

Advantages and risks: a balanced view

Like any financial tool, Open Finance has two sides. Knowing both is essential to using it wisely.

Advantages

• More competition and better conditions: banks and fintechs need to truly compete for customers, since “forced loyalty” through captive history has lost strength.
• Autonomy and control: you decide who accesses what, for how long.
• Operational ease: less bureaucracy to compare, contract and switch financial products.
• Financial inclusion: people with informal financial history can share payment account data to access credit that would previously be denied.

Risks and points of attention

• Phishing and scams: criminals can create fake pages mimicking the Open Finance consent flow to steal credentials. Never authorize sharing through links received via WhatsApp, SMS or unsolicited email. Always access the institution’s official app directly.
• Sharing too much data: authorizing more than necessary exposes information that perhaps didn’t need to be shared. Carefully evaluate what each consent includes.
• Trust in receiving institutions: although regulated, smaller fintechs may have less robust security and governance practices. Research whether the institution is properly registered at the Central Bank before authorizing access.
• Not a guarantee of automatic better offers: sharing your data doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll receive better terms. Analysis depends on your risk profile and each institution’s policy.
• Data used for marketing: consent may include use of your data for commercial offers. Read the terms carefully.

How to use Open Finance to better control your money: step by step

1. Make a financial inventory: list all the banks, accounts, cards and investments you own. This initial clarity is fundamental.
2. Choose a trustworthy aggregator platform: research financial management apps that use Open Finance and verify they are registered with the Central Bank. Avoid unknown platforms or ones that ask for your banking password directly — that’s a red flag.
3. Authorize only what’s necessary: to have a consolidated budget overview, usually just transaction and balance data is enough. There’s no need to authorize access to investments or credit data for this purpose.
4. Review your consents periodically: at least every three months, access your institution’s consent management portal (or the Central Bank’s portal) and check what’s active.
5. Use the data to make decisions: with the consolidated view, identify where your biggest expenses are, which debts have the highest interest rates and where you can reallocate resources.
6. Revoke what you no longer use: if you stopped using an app, revoke access immediately. Inactive data is still exposed data.

Open Finance and financial education: a powerful combination

Having access to organized data is only half the battle. The other half is knowing how to interpret this information and transform it into better decisions. Open Finance facilitates diagnosis — but the cure depends on consistent financial habits.

That’s why we recommend using available tools as a starting point to build a financial monitoring routine. Small adjustments in your day-to-day have significant impact over the long term. If you want to start with simple and effective habits, check out the article Monthly Savings Made Simple: Build Wealth Through Everyday Habits (in English) for practical references that apply to any context.

Also remember that all investing involves risks. Open Finance can facilitate access to investment products, but it doesn’t eliminate the need to understand what you’re contracting. Before investing in any product, research the characteristics, taxation (check the Revenue Service for IR rules on investments) and risks involved.

Conclusion: technology at the service of your financial control

Open Finance is not a magic solution, but it is an important structural change in the relationship between the consumer and the Brazilian financial system. For the first time, the customer has real tools to escape banking inertia, compare conditions with their actual data and manage their financial life in an integrated manner.

The secret lies in using this technology wisely: understanding what you’re authorizing, who you’re sharing with and for what purpose. Combined with good financial education and solid habits of expense control and savings, Open Finance can be a genuine ally in building a more organized and efficient financial life.

The tool is available. The control, as always, is yours.

This content is exclusively educational and informational in purpose. It does not constitute investment recommendation, personalized financial advice or indication of specific products or institutions. For financial decisions appropriate to your profile and situation, consult a qualified professional or investment advisor properly registered with the CVM.