Open Finance Brasil API Standards

Open Finance Brasil is one of the most ambitious open finance implementations globally, mandated by the Central Bank of Brazil (BCB) and the National Monetary Council (CMN). The framework goes far beyond traditional open banking, encompassing banking products, insurance, investments, pensions, foreign exchange, and payment initiation.

The API standards are built on a FAPI-compliant security profile adapted for the Brazilian market (FAPI-BR). They define comprehensive specifications for product data, customer data, account data, credit operations, and payment initiation across all covered financial sectors. The standards use JSON-based RESTful APIs with mutual TLS authentication and signed request/response payloads.

With over 800 participating institutions as of 2023, Open Finance Brasil processes billions of API calls monthly. The framework has achieved the highest adoption rate of any open finance ecosystem globally, driven by regulatory mandates and strong enforcement by the BCB.

Phase 4 introduced Pix-based payment initiation through open finance APIs, enabling instant payments alongside data sharing. The framework continues to evolve with new data categories and use cases being added through regular governance cycles.