Open Banking may sound too ‘open’ and untrustworthy for your prospective tenants to connect their bank details with.
This, however, is not the case! Although it is a new thing to understand, it is nothing to fear!
Open Banking was created as a new technology for online and mobile payments. Only websites and apps regulated by the FCA or the European equivalent can enrol in the open banking directory.
The way it works for your tenant Connect365 report is that the tenant gives the Open Banking supplier permission to have access to their bank account. No passwords are shared during this process, making it completely safe. This then allows them to see the tenant’s regular income from their job and what outgoings they have. This makes it a quick and simple way to check whether the prospective tenant is financially suitable for the property they are applying for.
A few clicks and it is done! This has made the whole application process for tenants a lot quicker and a lot more convenient. It takes away the laborious job of having to find, print or screenshot 6 months (or more) worth of bank statements to then email to the letting agent.
The Open Banking partner, Salt Edge, only keeps the tenants information for 6 hours – it is then completely deleted. Since we launched this Open Banking referencing system, 83% of applicants happily connected to their banks. This highlights how safe and secure Open Banking is and that it is nothing to fear.
For more technical information on the process please visit our partner’s page Salt Edge.
