Open Banking allows businesses to share their bank transaction data directly with lenders — quickly, securely, and with their explicit consent. Understanding how lenders use this data helps you know what to expect and how to present your business favourably.
What Open Banking data lenders can access
With your consent, a lender can access the transaction history of your connected business bank account — typically the last 3, 6, or 12 months, depending on the lender and your bank. This includes:
- Account balance and movements over time.
- Regular credits (income and customer payments).
- Regular debits (wages, supplier payments, taxes, loan repayments).
- Irregular transactions (large one-off costs or receipts).
- Overdraft usage and bounced payment history.
What lenders look for in the data
Revenue consistency
Lenders assess whether your income is stable or seasonal, growing or declining. Regular credits from customers show a trading business. Large, infrequent credits (such as a single invoice paid late) may be weighted differently than many smaller, regular receipts.
Existing debt service
If you have existing loan repayments, HMRC Time to Pay instalments, or finance payments going out, lenders can see these. They reduce your assessed free cashflow — the amount available to service new debt — so they directly affect how much you might be offered.
Average bank balance
A consistently healthy balance (relative to turnover) signals that the business manages its cashflow well. Balances that frequently drop close to zero — even if income recovers — suggest tighter cashflow management or seasonal pressure.
Overdraft usage
Regular or heavy use of an overdraft indicates the business is operating near its liquidity limit. Lenders view this as a sign of cashflow stress. If your overdraft use is genuinely seasonal, it helps to have a clear explanation ready.
Payment discipline
Bounced payments, returned direct debits, or patterns of paying supplier invoices very late are visible in transaction data. A clean record — paying regularly and on time — is a positive signal.
What Open Banking cannot tell a lender
Open Banking shows cash in and out of the bank account. It does not show your full balance sheet (assets, liabilities beyond the account), your order book, contract pipeline, or the quality of your customer relationships. This is why many lenders supplement bank data with other sources — Companies House filings, credit reference agency data, and your own application information.
How to present well in Open Banking
- Connect your primary trading account — not a savings account or holding account — to give lenders an accurate picture of trading activity.
- Make sure any large or unusual transactions are explainable. Some lenders may ask you to clarify a one-off large withdrawal or unexplained receipt.
- Apply when your recent trading period is representative. If the last two months were unusually quiet (a summer dip, for example), consider whether the data gives a fair picture.
See also: How Credicorp uses Open Banking data, What is Open Banking and is it safe?, First-time connecting your bank via Open Banking.