Open Banking: what it means for you and your clients
We’re introducing Open Banking to help streamline how we assess cases and support more consistent, efficient lending decisions, so let’s take a closer look at what it all means.
Why brokers are paying attention
Open Banking is becoming an increasingly useful tool in the mortgage process.
With explicit client consent, it provides a secure view of account activity, helping to evidence income, assess affordability and understand spending patterns. It doesn’t replace your process, but it does support ours, helping us review cases more efficiently and with greater consistency.
What this means in practice
Open Banking can help to:
- Reduce back-and-forth during underwriting
- Support quicker assessment of income and expenditure
- Improve accuracy and consistency of affordability checks
- Strengthen fraud prevention through verified data
Open Banking allows us to gather the information we need directly - helping to move cases forward smoothly.
FAQs
What data can be shared?
Typically, shared data may include account balances, transaction history, routine payments and regular income - information that can help evidence affordability.
Should I still collect bank statements?
You should continue to collect these in line with your compliance requirements. However, you don’t need to submit them to us if Open Banking is being used.
How will I know if a customer will choose to go ahead with Open Banking?
We'll contact your client directly for permission to use Open Banking. Once the Open Banking journey is completed within MSO, your case requirement for submitting bank statements will be marked as ‘received’ and waiting for an underwriter to review.
Open Banking at Leeds Building Society
At Leeds Building Society, our focus is making it easier to progress your clients cases. Open Banking supports a more consistent, data-led approach to underwriting - helping reduce friction once a case is submitted, even where your own process remains unchanged.
If you want more information on how Open Banking could affect your client's application journeys, please contact our BDM team.