OPEN BANKING AND SME LENDING: INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE AND STRATEGIC IMPLICATIONS FOR COMMERCIAL BANKS IN UZBEKISTAN

Abstract

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) remain credit constrained in many emerging economies because lenders face incomplete information on repayment capacity. Open Banking—customer-authorised sharing of account and transaction data through standardised APIs—can improve the information environment for SME credit assessment. This article examines the conditions under which Open Banking reshapes SME lending and which elements of international experience are transferable to commercial banks in Uzbekistan. The study combines a critical synthesis of peer-reviewed research (primarily 2021–2026), structured comparative institutional analysis of six jurisdictions (United Kingdom, European Union, United States, Australia, India and Brazil), and a qualitative country-case assessment of Uzbekistan. Causal evidence from the United Kingdom shows that SME-focused data-sharing raised the probability of new lending relationships by approximately 1.4 percentage points, especially with non-bank lenders. Complementary work indicates that Open Banking can ease collateral constraints, while theory shows welfare effects depend on competitive structure. India’s Account Aggregator and Brazil’s Open Finance frameworks illustrate consent-based architectures embedded in digital public infrastructure. In Uzbekistan, MSMEs account for over 90% of businesses and around 55% of GDP, while a financing gap of approximately USD 6 billion persists. The Central Bank has placed Open Banking within its National FinTech Strategy 2026–2030, with open-API implementation evolving toward early 2027. The article develops an integrated framework distinguishing an information channel from a competition channel under explicit governance conditions, specifies transferability conditions, and derives strategic implications and a staged roadmap for commercial banks. Effectiveness remains conditional on consent, data quality, interoperability, cybersecurity and responsible AI governance.