Savings and Investment Union (SIU) and the Financial Data Access Regulation (FiDA)

It’s not possible to achieve the goals of the Savings and Investment Union (SIU) without the Financial Data Access regulation (FiDA).

The SIU aims to create better financial opportunities for EU citizens and enhance the system’s ability to connect savings with productive investments.

This leads to more choice for savers and allows businesses across Europe to grow.

It offers citizens greater opportunities to save for retirement, major life events, and long-term goals (e.g. children’s education or buying a home).

By allocating savings into productive investments supporting EU priorities (climate, innovation, defence), citizens can achieve higher returns and better prepare for their future.

The SIU is a horizontal enabler that will create an ecosystem to finance EU strategic objectives.

FiDA can support two of its core pillars.

First: Encouraging retail participation in capital markets.

Two initiatives are key:

EU Savings and Investment Accounts. Successful excisting examples are simple to use, with digital interfaces providing access to a wide range of products and easy, low-cost switching. Financial data access is a critical enabler here. You can’t do this without it!

Second: Financial literacy strategy.

Important, but not a panacea. Literacy alone won’t resolve complexity. It’s unfair to place all the burden on consumers. Many struggle with basic concepts such as percentages. FiDA can unlock tools (dashboards, money management tools) that empower consumers to understand their financial situation and make informed decisions. It also drives innovation and simplifies product design.

Second pillar: developing the supplementary pension sector.

Pension dashboards are essential. Some countries have them. They work well. Many still do not. The core? Data access and standardisation. FiDA enables this. Without it, we risk a fragmented market.

Another sub-items here are IORP and PEPP reviews. A lot to discuss here but I focus on one aspect - FiDA can help address the cost of advice. By streamlining processes, automating where appropriate, and providing holistic consumer overviews to encourage pension participation. This is not about full robo-advice. It’s also about supporting advisors through combined online-offline solutions.

In short, FiDA is far more than “just” data access.

It is key to delivering the SIU.

And SIU is about growing the market. Bringing more consumers into financial markets, creating opportunities for all.

That’s a big opportunity!