The last quarter of 2021 saw a drop in the growth rate of new TPPs compared to earlier in the year. With the market maturing, the focus has instead been on existing TPPs expanding their services into new markets. Passporting drove most of the growth in Q4 2021, with an average of 6 additional passported TPPs per country.
The total number of TPPs in the EEA and UK has now risen to 529. The average number of TPPs approved to provide open banking services in each country surpassed 100.
Q4 Highlights
- The number of TPPs in the EEA was 313 at the end of Q4, a net increase of 11 since the end of Q3, despite TPPs in Germany and the Czech Republic having licences withdrawn.
- In the UK, the number remained at 216 despite a licence withdrawal.
- All countries in the EEA saw an increase of at least 3 new TPPs thanks to passporting, with the average increase in total TPPs being 7.
- Spain saw the highest increase in total TPPs (11), followed by the Netherlands (10).
- As we predicted in Q3, 12 countries now have over 100 total TPPs. These are Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, and the UK.
- Every country has at least 79 total TPPs, excluding Liechtenstein and Iceland.
- Over 2021, the number of TPPs in the EEA grew at a rate of 25%, compared to 8% in the UK.
- 56% of TPPs were regulated in the EEA versus the UK at the end of 2020. This number had risen to 59% at the end of 2021.
Home TPPs
- Sweden joined Germany in having the highest number of Domestic TPPs in the EEA (37)
- 12 countries in the EEA licensed new fintech TPPs in Q4 2021: Austria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, and Sweden.
- The Netherlands saw the highest increase with 2 new Home TPPs.
- 20 countries in the EEA have at least 5 Home TPPs. 12 countries in the EEA have at least 10 Home TPPs. 6 countries in the EEA have over 20 Home TPPs.
Passported TPPs
- There are now 4 countries with over 100 passported TPPs (Germany, Italy, Netherlands, and Spain), a milestone that no country had reached at the end of Q3.
- Spain saw the highest increase with 10 new passported TPPs taking its total to 106 passported TPPs. The next highest increase is in Romania with 9 new passported TPPs.
- 5 countries had 8 new passported TPPs: Germany, Greece, Ireland, Netherlands, and Portugal.
The number of payment institutions has risen significantly (10), while EMIs remained stable, rising by only 1.
The number of TPPs providing AIS services grew by 3, but the main increase was driven by TPPs offering AIS and PIS (9).
Despite the number of TPPs offering PIS alone actually dropping by 1, the overall increase in PIS services is a trend we expect will accelerate over 2022.
Forecast for Q1 2022
TPP Growth
We expect a 3.6% increase in Home TPPs in the first quarter of 2022, taking the total number to 548.
The year-on-year slow-down in net TPP growth does not mean there is less activity. Instead, we are seeing existing TPPs expanding into new markets through passporting and increasing the services they offer. With passporting numbers continuing to rise, 17 countries will have more than 100 TPPs providing open banking services by the end of Q1 2022.
Monthly API calls (EEA and UK)
We estimate that by the end of Q4 2021, total monthly open banking transactions reached 2 billion, with the EEA accounting for half of the total volume.
By the end of Q1 2022, the total monthly volume is forecast to rise to 2.2 billion transactions, an increase of 10%. Including the UK, 6 countries should reach over 100 million transactions per month.
As with TPP growth, transaction volumes are rising faster in the EEA than in the UK. At the end of 2020, the EEA accounted for only 21% of transactions, compared to 50% at the end of 2021.
“Despite a slowdown in the number of newly regulated Home TPPs, passporting is accelerating. Over the last six months, Spain, for example, has seen an increase of more than 20 passported TPPs – other countries are not far behind. This clearly shows the desire for TPPs to expand their service offering to new markets in response to increasing consumer demand.
We’ve historically said that the UK is eighteen months to two years ahead of the EEA but the gap is clearly narrowing. Over the past year, TPP numbers have risen four times faster in the EEA than the UK, with volumes in the EEA reaching the milestone of 1bn monthly API calls.
With this trend looking to continue, maintaining consumer confidence and trust is essential.”
Mike Woods, CEO Konsentus
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