Open source software is shaping innovation in financial services through its interoperability and increased security – and top firms can reap the benefits if they both adopt and contribute to projects. 

Financial organizations are increasingly adopting and contributing to open source software, according to a new survey from FINOS.  

Open source software can bring a variety of benefits to financial institutions, including increased engineering speed, improved code quality, better application interoperability, and greater safety. “The collaborative, transparent nature [of open source] makes it very innovative,” according to expert Tracy Miranda. For example, earlier this year Citi released an open source project focused on mitigating software supply chain attacks. Being involved in open source can also help FinServs attract top talent, since contributing to projects allows developers to see the industry-wide impact of their work, collaborate across companies, and earn cachet.  

Top firms like Citi, JPMorgan, UBS, RBC, and Capital One are all members of FINOS, and the survey found that 20 financial institutions rolled out Open Source Program Offices this year. 

It also tracked a 25% increase in contributions from financial services firms on GitHub this year, and found that 48% of respondents worked for firms that openly encouraged the use of open source software, up from 27% in 2020.