Dr Ruth Wandhofer

---

Smart Data Group (SDG) has appointed Dr. Ruth Wandhöfer as independent mobilisation lead as the ecosystem prepares for the next phase of Open Banking and the development of a Smart Data economy.

Dr. Wandhöfer is a leading authority on digital financial infrastructure, with over 20 years’ experience operating at the intersection of data, regulation and technology. She has held senior roles across global banking, regulation and fintech, including over a decade at Citi, serving as an independent non-executive director at the London Stock Exchange Group, and as Chair of the Payment Systems Regulator Statutory Panel from 2020 to 2023. She currently chairs the Bank of England’s Digital Sterling Privacy Working Group.

In her role at SDG, she will support industry-led engagement on the proposed Open Banking Future Entity (FE), working independently to listen to and reflect views from across the ecosystem.

Should SDG receive industry backing to take this work forward, Dr. Wandhöfer would then support the final design and mobilisation of the FE, ensuring it is robust, future-ready and capable of supporting Open Banking, while laying the foundations for a broader, cross-sector Smart Data infrastructure aligned with the UK’s Data (Use and Access) Act.

Her focus will be on engaging banks, fintechs, payments firms and consumer groups to help translate policy into an operating model that works commercially and at scale.