Open Banking to Agentic Banking
With last month’s Canadian federal budget announcing amendments to the Consumer-Driven Banking Act to enable effective and regulated open banking, and introducing “write access” targeted for 2027, open banking in Canada is entering its next phase.
For financial institutions, FinTechs, and businesses, it’s becoming the invisible infrastructure that powers automated and more seamless payments, reconciliation, underwriting, treasury workflows, and much more.
For individuals, it means seamless connectivity across financial apps and platforms, faster onboarding and verification, and richer data and insights, all in a secure and permissioned way.
But what does this all actually mean? And how will this lead to a revolutionary agentic banking age?
What Regulated Open Banking Enables
Secure, permissioned access to financial data + actions using API connectivity
Real-time connectivity between banks, FinTechs, and business software (accounting, payroll, ERPs, etc.)
Financial services embedded inside workflows, not separate banking apps and portals
👉 Think plumbing, not products.
Types of APIs (The Building Blocks)
1. Data APIs
Account balances, statements & transactions (including multiple accounts from multiple banks)
Reconciliation and reporting
Read-only, consent-based access
2. Authorization APIs
Consent management for non-banking systems & apps to access banking information & services
Defines who can access what and for how long
3. Payments APIs
Payee account validation
Payment initiation (push payments, automated payments, etc.)
Payment status & notifications (success, failure, retries)
👉 Data APIs shows what is (‘read-access’), Payments APIs let you take action (‘write-access’).
Types of Integrations
1. Bank - Provider Integrations
Bank ↔ accounting / payroll / ERP providers & FinTechs
Bank feeds & actions available inside softwares, platforms, and apps
2. Bank - Client Integration through Pre-Built Connectors
Embedded banking tools or platforms (such as BMO Sync, CIBC SmartBanking, RBC PayEdge, etc.)
Faster onboarding, limited customization
Optimized for SMEs
3. Bank - Client Integration through API Exposure via Bank Developer Portals
Banks expose APIs publicly to approved clients
Client tech teams integrate ERPs directly
Highest flexibility, highest complexity
👉 Same APIs - different distribution models.
Use-Cases: Individuals / Consumers
View all bank, investment & loan accounts in one dashboard
Track net worth, balances, cash position
Automated spend insights
Faster onboarding
👉 Convenience and visibility drive adoption here.
Use-Cases: Business / Merchant
Real-time cash-flow visibility within own ERP or provider platforms
Automated reconciliation with accounting systems
Embedded payments & invoicing within ERP
Faster access to credit using live financial data
Fewer CSV uploads and manual steps
👉 For businesses, time saved = money earned.
Use-Cases: Financial Institution
Better risk assessment & customer analytics using live data for onboarding, lending, wealth advice, etc.
New distribution via software platforms
Defend primacy without owning the interface
👉 Embedded banking: They don’t own the UI, but they power it.
The Future: Agentic Banking
💬 Humans express intent in natural language
“Which suppliers are still unpaid this month?”
“Schedule remaining payments before Friday.”
🔗 AI agents translate intent into actions
Using open banking APIs, agents retrieve invoices, check balances, validate accounts, and initiate payments — all within pre-set guardrails.
⚙️ Open banking becomes machine-readable finance
Read & write access power AI agents operating inside ERPs and FinTech platforms instead of manual human action or hardcoded static programs.
👉 Once the plumbing exists, finance can shift from human clicks to agentic execution
