Articles on: Borrowing

About open banking

When you apply online for a loan, to reduce paperwork and speed up your application, we use Open Banking.

Open Banking is a secure way to securely grant a regulated financial services organisation time-limited access to your bank account transactions. If you choose to provide this access, you no longer need to send in your bank statements to the Credit Union. Loan applications can be made entirely online. Decisions are quicker.


You’re protected

We’ve been taught to never share our account details. That’s still good advice in many ways, however the difference with Open Banking is that software and security systems give you the option to share your account information securely. Data is encrypted and usage is tracked. Only companies regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority can access your information.

How it works
When you apply online for a loan you may be asked to provide your bank statement. You still have the option to bring these into the office, but that will delay your application. Alternatively, if you have an online account, you can select to provide this added secure information over the internet. This enables us to provide a much quicker decision.

If you choose to do provide online access you will arrive at a secure portal where you select your bank account and log in using your usual online banking credentials. Your log in details are not shared and remain secure. No one will see them, they are not accessed by the Credit Union or stored in any way. They are fully encrypted.

How we use your data
We receive a summary of your income and expenditure in the form of a monthly budget. This covers the previous 90-day period. The connection to your account remains open for 90 days. If you apply for a top up loan within three months, we do not need to get you to logon again.
More information

The Money Advice Service has more information about Open Banking.

Updated on: 09/11/2021

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