TL;DR
Thorsten Meyer AI published an analysis saying OpenAI’s U.S. conversational-finance surface cannot be copied directly into Europe. The report points to EU open-banking, open-finance and AI rules that make financial-data access a licensed and supervised activity.
Thorsten Meyer AI published an analysis Tuesday saying OpenAI’s May 15 U.S. personal-finance surface cannot be carried into Europe as a straightforward product rollout, because EU rules treat bank-data access, wider financial-data access and certain AI uses as licensed, consent-governed and supervised activities.
The analysis says OpenAI’s U.S. product was built on a private aggregation layer, with users connecting accounts through Plaid across more than 12,000 institutions. In that account, the U.S. launch relied on read-only account access and did not require the same kind of financial-data license or regulator-facing structure that would apply in Europe.
In the EU, the report says the starting point is PSD2, which made access to payment-account data a regulated activity in 2018. It adds that the proposed Payment Services Regulation and Third Payment Services Directive reached provisional agreement on November 27, 2025, with final publication expected in 2026 and core obligations expected across 2027.
The analysis also points to the Financial Data Access regulation, known as FIDA, which is intended to extend access rules beyond payment accounts to data such as investments, pensions, insurance, mortgages and loans. According to the source material, FIDA was still in trilogue as of April 2026, with operational dates likely around 2029 to 2030.
Why It Matters
The finding matters because it frames Europe not as a slower market for the same product, but as a different build environment. A U.S.-style conversational-finance interface depends on access to sensitive financial data. In Europe, the analysis says that access would sit inside rules for licensing, consent, API quality and supervisory oversight.
For consumers, the difference could affect how account connections are granted, reviewed and withdrawn. For banks, fintechs and AI companies, it could shape who is allowed to provide the service and what systems must be in place before launch.
The AI layer adds another risk point. The EU AI Act classifies AI used for credit scoring and creditworthiness assessment as high-risk, with full obligations due August 2, 2026, according to the source material. The analysis says a general-purpose model grounded in a user’s full financial profile could move close to that boundary, depending on product design and use.
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Background
Open banking in Europe has been built through regulation rather than only through private data-aggregation deals. PSD2 created a legal framework for third-party access to payment accounts, while the PSR and PSD3 package is expected to tighten the rulebook and apply across the bloc.
FIDA would broaden that model into open finance. The source material says the proposal would create a new licensed category, the Financial Information Service Provider, for firms that handle wider financial data. It also says a contested data-access fee remains part of the policy debate.
The AI Act sits over that financial-data stack. For financial-services systems, supervision may fall to financial regulators such as Germany’s BaFin, according to the analysis, rather than only to technology-focused authorities.
“The US surface shipped permissionlessly.”
— Thorsten Meyer AI
“Europe has a mandate at every layer.”
— Thorsten Meyer AI
“In Europe, compliance is the architecture.”
— Thorsten Meyer AI
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What Remains Unclear
It is not yet clear how OpenAI would design or launch any comparable finance surface in the EU, or whether it would seek licenses directly, work through regulated partners, limit functionality, or avoid certain financial-advice and credit-related uses. The final shape and timing of FIDA also remain subject to the EU legislative process.
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What’s Next
The next milestones are the final PSR and PSD3 texts expected in the Official Journal in 2026, AI Act obligations for high-risk systems due August 2, 2026, and the continued FIDA process. Companies planning conversational-finance products in Europe will need to map product features against licensing, consent, data-access and AI-risk rules before launch.
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Key Questions
What happened?
Thorsten Meyer AI published a May 26 analysis arguing that OpenAI’s U.S. personal-finance surface cannot be replicated in Europe without a different regulatory build.
Why would Europe be different from the United States?
The analysis says U.S. account aggregation can rely on private access layers such as Plaid, while EU access to bank and wider financial data is governed by licensing, consent and API-quality rules.
Which EU rules are involved?
The report points to PSD2, the proposed PSR and PSD3 package, FIDA and the EU AI Act. Together, those regimes affect payment-account access, wider financial-data access and AI systems used in areas such as creditworthiness assessment.
Does this mean OpenAI cannot launch a finance product in Europe?
The source material does not say that. It says a European version would likely need a different structure, including licensing or regulated partnerships, consent controls, API conformity and AI-risk classification work.
What remains unclear?
OpenAI’s EU plans for such a product are not specified in the source material. The final operational timing for FIDA and the exact regulatory treatment of a broad conversational-finance assistant would depend on the final rules and product design.
Source: Thorsten Meyer AI
