I've mentioned that I work in B2B banking.
When writing new or revising existing facilities we now insist on an Open Banking link to all a customers' bank accounts to assess the business.
I know a customer has facilities with other banks, there will be charges in place listed at companies house and if no lending facilities are in place, I can see payments or receipts from those accounts on our system, or if it's a big deal there will be a syndication of banks who all talk to each other.
Now, if a company gives me access to the read-only snapshot I can review the data within minutes to an hour, check if cashflows make sense etc.
Without open banking it might take a day or even more, which is about 1/4 of the time needed to underwrite a proposal.
So we are advising customers that refuse open banking access to find other lenders. Other banks are now doing the same.
With my moral hat on, I did wonder if this is a case of me saying "well if you have nothing to hide" but think no, this is not a person vs. state position, it is a business relationship where all cards should be on the table and parties involved should be open and honest with each other.
|
