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Juho Aalto and Juho Tuuliainen, finance students at the School of Business, conducted a comprehensive analysis of the potential benefits of the upcoming EU Financial Data Access (FIDA) regulation for the OP Financial Group (OP). This project, driven by the need to understand and leverage legislative changes, aimed to explore the opportunities FIDA could present to the OP Financial Group.

The project was specifically commissioned for the OP Financial Group, a major Finnish financial services provider, to delve into the possibilities afforded by the FIDA regulation. FIDA, also known as the Open Finance framework, is designed to facilitate customer data sharing and enable third-party access in the financial sector, promising to transform the landscape of financial data usage.

The Aalto University team conducted extensive research, which included expert interviews, a thorough literature review of recent European Commission documents, data analysis, and iterative feedback sessions with OP Lab and Regulatory Affairs Team. The project focused on retail banking customers within the banking and insurance business lines, as these segments are expected to experience the initial impacts of FIDA implementation.

Clear and actionable insights from students

Juho Aalto expressed his satisfaction with the collaboration. ‘The collaboration with the OP Lab went exceptionally well. It was very rewarding to see our research and insights being valued, leading to the opportunity to present our findings to the management teams of OP's business areas.’

Juho Tuuliainen added that working with the OP Lab was a great experience. ‘It's gratifying to know that our efforts are appreciated and that the results are significant enough to be presented at such a high level within the organization.’

‘The project team did an outstanding job of managing to create concrete examples where OP can really benefit from the FIDA regulation. Their work provides clear, actionable insights,’ praised Anton Danielsen, Innovation Partner at OP Lab, the project's authors. 

Sebastian Pohja, Legal Counsel at OP Financial Group, also commended the team saying that despite the legal development of FIDA still being open, the project team delivered a thorough and well-thought-out final work. Their insights will be invaluable as we navigate these changes.’

Finally, University Lecturer Timo Seppälä, who was the academic supervisor in the project, highlighted the project’s significance. ‘This project sheds excellent light on the subject of FIDA and the ongoing EU legislation changes. Given the scope of the topic, it could easily have warranted writing a dissertation, yet the team managed to deliver concise and impactful findings.’

According to the students, this collaboration between Aalto University and the OP Financial Group underscores the proactive steps being taken to adapt to and benefit from forthcoming regulatory changes. ‘By preparing for FIDA’s implementation, OP positions itself to not only comply with new regulations but also to exploit the strategic advantages these changes bring. The project’s insights and recommendations will be useful as OP navigates the transition towards a more open and data-centric financial environment,’ Juho Aalto and Juho Tuuliainen say.