Fintech profitability in 2025 for Open Banking and Open Finance

The Paypers analyses the idea of profitability for Open Banking and Open Finance fintechs, based on company financial reports and private market estimates. 

In 2025, Open Banking and Open Finance fintechs experienced a shift from unrestrained growth and cheap capital to a sharper focus on profitability and operational discipline.

For years, often backed by ample funding rounds, fintechs in Europe, the UK, and the US operated under a scale-first mentality, at the expense of healthy balance sheets. However, when faced with macroeconomic realities, rising cost pressures, and investor expectations, fintechs suddenly realised: profitability matters.

The Paypers analyses how this transition played out in 2025, using publicly disclosed company performance metrics to illustrate where fintechs have found commercial traction and where sustainable economics are yet to be discovered and implemented.

The Open Banking conversion challenge in the UK and Europe: scale vs. profitability

At the heart of the Open Banking and Open Finance narrative is the promise of banking data and real-time account-to-account (A2A) payments replacing legacy rails. Yet, monetising these capabilities has proven harder than anticipated.

In the UK and Europe, fintechs like TrueLayer showcase the tension between growth and profitability. TrueLayer reported substantial revenue growth in 2024, up 63% year-on-year, with gross profit rising 82%, driven by strong adoption of its ‘Pay by Bank’ solution and exponential growth in ecommerce volumes. According to the company's financial statement, in aggregate, the platform processed over 200 million transactions with roughly USD 80 billion in total payments volume annually and grew its user base beyond 10 million. Despite this momentum, the company still reported losses in 2024, narrowing from GBP 55.6 million to GBP 38.6 million, while consciously cutting its burn rate and downsizing its staff to accelerate its path to profitability.

In other words, progress is visible. However, the gap between scale and profits is also evident. TrueLayer’s focus on reducing burn and diversifying revenue beyond API calls toward outcomes-oriented payments solutions underscores the shift in mindset required for sustainable economics.

Profitability emerging in Open Banking payments

Trustly stands out in 2025 for delivering both growth and improving profitability metrics. For the year ending 2024, Trustly reported net revenues of approximately USD 239 million, up 32% year-on-year, and an adjusted EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortisation) of USD 73.2 million, reflecting increased operational leverage as transaction volumes rose across both Europe and North America. The company also processed a total payment value of USD 87 billion in 2024, representing a 54% increase from the prior year.

Trustly’s unit economics, anchored on payments rather than simple data access, illustrate where Open Banking can be not just viable but profitable. Its ability to scale Pay by Bank solutions with strong margins puts it ahead of many peers in the European A2A ecosystem.

The US Open Finance playbook: breadth, diversification, and approaching profitability

Across the Atlantic, Open Banking has taken a more commercially-oriented path. Here, companies like Plaid have expanded beyond simple bank data connectivity into identity infrastructure, anti-fraud tools, credit risk products, and payments.

Plaid’s financial performance through 2025 reflects this diversification. Data from private market estimates suggest the company’s annual revenue reached roughly USD 575 million in 2025, up from about USD 400 million in 2024, a compound annual growth rate that underscores sustained demand for its platform across use cases.

Though detailed profit figures are not widely disclosed, Plaid’s most recent fundraise and investor communications emphasise a return to positive operating margins and a trajectory toward sustained profitability, spurred by strong revenue growth and enterprise adoption.

This stands in contrast to some purely API-only propositions, and it highlights the importance of breadth in Open Finance offerings as a lever for stronger unit economics in the US.

Unit economics vs. strategic investment: where economics matter most

Across regions, fintech profitability in 2025 emerged around a few key product lines:

• Payments and account-to-account rails: TrueLayer’s scaling of Pay by Bank in ecommerce and Trustly’s growth in both merchant and public sector payments illustrate that direct payment solutions are among the most promising avenues for monetisation in Open Banking. Revenue per transaction and lower churn from enterprise contracts reinforce sustainable economics.
• Data-enabled decisioning: Plaid’s evolution into fraud prevention, identity, and underwriting signals that monetising raw data alone is insufficient. Value accrues when data informs decisions that have direct commercial impact, e.g., better credit outcomes or reduced fraud loss.
• Recurring revenue models: annual recurring revenue (ARR) and enterprise contracts play a critical role in supporting predictable economics. The shift toward licencing and integration into core financial platforms has improved visibility into future revenue streams relative to consumer-freemium models.

Yet not all fintech segments are equally profitable. Consumer personal finance tools and broad aggregator platforms without clear monetisation levers remain in the red or marginal, underscoring the limits of scale without pricing power.

Lessons from 2025: profitability is mandatory, not an afterthought

By the close of 2025, profitability in fintech was not merely aspirational; it had become a strategic imperative, shaping product roadmaps, investor relations, and competitive positioning.

The best performing companies share common traits:

• Strong alignment between product value and customer outcomes, allowing clear monetisation pathways.
• Enterprise and volume-driven revenue structures that support predictable, recurring income.
• Operational discipline that balances growth with cost control, especially in compliance, infrastructure, and go-to-market functions.

For Open Banking and Open Finance, 2025 marked the transition from experimentation with application programming interfaces and market share narratives to a data-driven focus on profitability at scale. As fintech ventures mature into sustainable businesses, the industry may finally deliver on the promise of transforming financial services not just technologically, but economically.

About the author

Vlad is a Senior Editor at The Paypers, working in the Banking & Fintech team. He uses his research, content, and people skills for all activities revolving around Open Banking and Open Finance. Vlad has a degree in Biology and Molecular Genetics and an extensive background in creative writing. You can reach out to him on LinkedIn.