Credit Strategy launches major open banking report

Now available on Credit Strategy’s website, Open Banking Unlocked has involved surveys taken out with more than 80 lenders – ranging from the UK’s largest retail banks and building societies, through to mortgage lenders, challenger banks, car finance providers, short-term credit providers, SME lenders and credit unions.

These surveys were carried out in two phases. The first was in Q2 2020, when the entire credit industry was transforming operationally, responding to new guidance updates from the government and the regulator, while offering millions of payment deferrals.

This first survey unearthed initial trends on the use of open banking in forbearance and collections, but also how they rated its deployment.

The second phase was undertaken in Q4 2020, just as it became clearer the pandemic was entering a second wave; precipitating an extended period of forbearance for consumers and heightened activity among lenders to ascertain a more precise picture of customers’ financial circumstances.

Detailed results of both surveys are revealed in Open Banking Unlocked for the first time. Crucially, they depict where lenders are having successes with open banking, and how they rate the outcomes of using consented data for multiple reasons such as credit decisions, identifying vulnerability and verifying income and employment. These results are also shown across multiple lending products.

Aside from these survey results, reader will also see detailed case studies from the likes of BNP Paribas Consumer Finance, Skipton Building Society, Marsh Finance, incuto and Molo Finance, as well as ambitious plans for deployment, from Nationwide Building Society, Monzo, the Cabinet Office, Moneybarn and others.

The aim is for the report to become a reference tool for lenders for the short and longer term.