Over the past two decades, as low-cost competitors have emerged elsewhere in the world, the euro area – like other advanced economies – has recorded some decline in export market shares. These losses partly reflect the mechanical effect of the new entrants. Nevertheless, the euro area does need to adjust the range of goods, services, sectors and industries in which it specialises.
Open finance will involve collaboration and data sharing among incumbent financial institutions and new third-party players such as banks, non-bank electronic money issuers and operators of payment systems. The diversity of participants provides alternative sources of consumer data beyond conventional banking transactions such as utility and bills payments, investments, and insurance choices, providing a rich digital footprint of customer behavior and service needs.