Western New England University’s (WNE) FinTech program welcomed leading voices in the financial technology sector to campus for the Open Finance Conference 2025 (OFC ’25). More than 70 people attended the event that brought together industry experts, academic researchers, students, and policymakers to explore how open finance is reshaping the future of financial services.
“Western Massachusetts has an important role to play in the future development of more accessible financial services, and events like this demonstrate the power of bringing together local and regional business leaders, academic researchers and policymakers to learn the current state of affairs and help envision a common future,” said Charles Mutigwe, professor of Business Analytics & Information Management and one of WNE’s College of Business event organizers. “By connecting students, faculty, and global thought leaders, we’re helping shape development of future financial infrastructure that is based on open source and open standards that will foster innovations from all communities in the Commonwealth and beyond for years to come.”
Held in the Delbridge Career Center, the half-day conference also featured the International Conference on Open Finance (ICOF 2025), where researchers from UMass Amherst, University of Rhode Island, Northeastern University, Penn State University, University of the Cumberlands, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and Western New England University presented new findings in open-source financial technologies. Conversations centered on emerging trends in open AI agents, blockchain, open APIs, open wallets, and open banking—topics that are redefining how consumers and institutions interact with money.
Keynote speakers included Sears Merritt, Head of Enterprise Technology & Experience at MassMutual and Sarah Biller, Co-Founder of FinTech Sandbox, CMX, and Vantage Ventures.
“This conference gave our students a front-row seat to the innovations driving the financial industry,” said Mutigwe. “Having direct access to industry leaders and researchers from other institutions not only enriches classroom learning but also prepares our graduates to thrive in a rapidly evolving marketplace.”
OFC ’25 underscored how open finance can give consumers more control over their financial data in a secure manner, reduce costs, accelerate services such as payments and loans, and expand access to underserved communities.
A full program and session details are available at https://openfinanceconference.us/.
