SBP Draft Open Banking Rules Seek Fintech Access to Banking Data
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has released draft open banking regulations for public consultation, inviting feedback from stakeholders on a framework that would let customers share their financial data with authorised fintech firms. The SBP open banking regulations aim to give customers greater control over their own data while opening the banking system to more competition and innovation.
The draft is now available on the SBP website. Comments can be sent by November 30, 2026, by email with the subject line “Feedback on Draft Open Banking Regulations”, or by post to the Payment Systems Policy and Oversight Department, 4th Floor, SBP Building, I.I. Chundrigar Road, Karachi.
What the SBP open banking regulations would change
Under the proposed framework, customers could allow secure, consent-based sharing of their financial data with authorised Third-Party Providers (TPPs), and could also initiate business payments through those providers. The key word is consent: the customer decides what to share, with whom, and for what purpose. The draft also provides safeguards for data protection, privacy, cybersecurity, fraud prevention and consumer protection.
The SBP says the regulations are expected to speed up the digitisation of business-to-business and consumer-to-business payments. They would also enable new uses of consent-based data sharing, including stronger credit assessments, better access to financing for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and financial products tailored to individual customers.
The draft is aligned with international best practices, according to the central bank, and draws on the results of the first cohort of its Regulatory Sandbox on Open Banking, which has now concluded. Feedback is invited from financial institutions, fintechs, technology providers, consumer groups, academia and the general public.
Why this matters for ordinary account holders and small firms
For an ordinary account holder, open banking could mean a budgeting app that reads your bank balance with your permission, or a loan application that checks your transaction history instead of demanding piles of paper. The difference from today’s informal workarounds is consent and control: data moves through authorised channels, under rules, rather than through shared passwords and screen-scraping.
For small firms, the SME angle may matter most. Banks often refuse small business loans for lack of verifiable financial history. If a small firm can consent to share its transaction data with a lender, that lender can assess creditworthiness on real cash flow rather than collateral alone. That is the promise the SBP points to when it links the draft to improved SME financing.
Open banking has already started taking shape in Pakistan. BankIslami’s aik launched a Shariah-compliant open banking platform earlier this year, showing that local institutions are already testing the model. The draft regulations would give that activity a common rulebook, which matters for trust: customers will only share data if they believe the safeguards hold.
The November 30 deadline gives the industry a month to respond. Fintechs will push for wider data access, banks will push for tighter liability rules, and consumer groups will test the privacy safeguards. The final shape of the rules will depend on how those arguments land.
The original report was published by ProPakistani.
What are the SBP open banking regulations?
They are draft rules that would let customers share financial data with authorised third-party providers on a consent basis, and initiate business payments through them.
When is the feedback deadline?
Comments must reach the SBP by November 30, 2026, by email or by post to its Payment Systems Policy and Oversight Department in Karachi.
How would open banking help small businesses?
Consent-based data sharing would let lenders assess SME creditworthiness from real transaction history, improving access to financing.
Is open banking already operating in Pakistan?
It has started taking shape, with BankIslami’s aik launching a Shariah-compliant open banking platform earlier this year.
