Simon Redfern’s Open Bank project aims to revolutionize banking by fostering transparency and open source innovation through standardized APIs. Redfern’s recent work focuses on bridging open banking and blockchain to enable secure decentralized financial solutions.
Simon Redfern, who originally started the Open Bank Project and is CEO of TESOBE, has become a major player in the financial technology (fintech) scene thanks to his innovative work in open banking.
His professional path has demonstrated not only a technological invention perspective, but also a strong belief in openness, inclusivity, and the ability of open source technologies to transform the financial sector. Mr. Redfern’s story is one of tenacity, vision and determination to democratize the availability of financial services.
A vision of transparency and innovation in banking
Redfern’s path to open banking started with a simple but powerful concept: banking transparency. Under his proposal, financial institutions would be more transparent and banking data would be accessible to customers and external developers through standardized and secure APIs.
The goal of reducing corruption and inefficiency in the banking industry drove this extreme idea. “Why should basic financial information be hidden or delayed?” asked Redfawn. Early on, his ideas revolved around building an API-driven bank that could standardize data sharing between different companies.
The initial concept was to apply this to one bank, but a discussion about whiskey with a friend led to a bolder vision. Why not apply this to all banks? Launched in 2010, the Open Bank project is changing the way developers and banks collaborate by using APIs to generate fresh and creative ideas. We aimed to transform.
Building a global ecosystem of open banking innovation
The Open Bank project quickly gained momentum. Designed as an open source API solution, Simon Redfern and his colleagues at TESOBE give financial institutions access to over 400 standardized APIs. Currently supporting a community of over 11,000 developers, the ecosystem attracts both large corporations and individual innovators, including financial startups.
The success of the Open Bank project will depend not only on the amount of APIs and developers involved, but also on the partnerships with key financial institutions and authorities.
From guiding regulators in Mexico and Australia to working with banks in Europe and Asia, the platform has grown into a pillar of global open banking projects. Redfern’s belief in open source technology fundamentally drives its success.
“Open source is good for the soul,” he said, highlighting how technology will be democratized and even local banks will have access to enterprise-grade tools.
Bridging blockchain and traditional banking for a secure future
Mr. Redfern’s work focuses on connecting blockchain technology and traditional banking, making it the most modern and creative in nature. The Open Bank Project signed a 10-year development agreement with API3 in 2021 to enable banks to link their data directly to blockchain systems.
This collaboration allows financial institutions to leverage blockchain’s decentralized architecture to improve the security, openness, and efficiency of their services.
For Redfern, this was more than just technology integration, it also included building the economic foundation for the future. He believes that the convergence of open banking and blockchain is a necessary and inevitable step in the development of digital banking, especially with the growth of decentralized finance (DeFi).
From sovereign identities to decentralized data markets, his vision is that open banking data can drive blockchain-native solutions.
Accelerating innovation through hackathons and collaborations
Redfern’s path is also defined by his tireless efforts to encourage creativity within the financial sector. His dedication to hackathon planning and management is one of the clearest demonstrations of this. Organized by the Open Bank Project, these gatherings have brought together thousands of developers and inventors from around the world.
Hackathons using the Open Bank Project’s APIs give teams a stage to prototype new financial solutions, resulting in hundreds of new applications.
One very memorable event was at the fintech hackathon HSBC in Hong Kong, when Redfern’s team unveiled the entire API sandbox. The event produced creative ideas such as micro-loan services and predictive tools for cash flow forecasting, proving the useful potential of open banking in retail finance.
Redfern’s approach to these hackathons doesn’t just generate fresh ideas, it builds a community of innovators who can push the boundaries of banking.
