Open banking lending
Open banking lending uses account information shared by a loan applicant to help assess whether repayments are affordable. With the applicant's consent, an account information service retrieves transaction data from the bank and makes the relevant information available for the credit assessment. Income and spending patterns can give the lender a clearer view of the applicant's financial position.
Open banking can reduce the work involved in collecting bank statements and checking income during a loan application. The information supports the lender's assessment of repayment capacity alongside the other checks required for the loan. The data covered and the period examined depend on the service and the permission granted, so the process should explain what will be accessed before the applicant agrees.
How the account check works
The borrower starts the check in the loan application, chooses their bank and logs in to online banking. A licensed account information provider then reads the account through the bank's XS2A interface, the access PSD2 requires. The lender sees the account holder's name and IBAN and the transactions of the last 90 days, and with some providers credit cards, other accounts and co-holders, as the loan platform Giromatch (in German) lists.
From those transactions the lender reads salary and employer, the stability of income, spending, existing loans and warning signs such as overdrafts, returned direct debits or payments to debt collectors. DKB (in German) uses a digital statement of the last three months for personal loans, car loans, home improvement loans and mortgages, and asks for no further proof of income when the check is used.
Who provides the data
Giromatch names fino digital, finAPI, Tink and finleap connect as the BaFin-licensed providers behind its checks and picks one per lending partner. finAPI adds categorization of transactions and cash flow and risk analyses for credit applications on top of the raw data.
Transaction data also feeds scoring models. A score built from income and spending patterns can also cover borrowers with a thin credit file, and machine learning models use the same categories; see credit scoring and AI in lending. The account information role and its BaFin registration are covered on account information services.
The rules: consent, CCD and FIDA
The check needs the borrower's explicit consent, and the data serves the credit decision. The new Consumer Credit Directive (EU) 2023/2225, which applies from 20 November 2026, requires the creditworthiness assessment to rest on information that includes income and expenses, and excludes special categories of personal data and information from social networks. Account transactions are income and expense data of that kind.
FIDA would widen the data a lender can read with permission to savings, loans at other institutions and investments, and lists creditworthiness assessment data among its categories. How this fits the German lending market is on lending in Germany.
Upcoming events on payments and open banking
Finance Loop and open banking in lending
Finance Loop is the meeting place for credit risk teams, loan platforms, account information providers and the bank API teams behind them in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Finance Loop connects the finance, IT and AI communities, with events in Frankfurt, Munich, Berlin and Hamburg.
Finance Loop is a partner of the Digital Euro Association, whose Digital Euro Conference in Frankfurt covers digital money infrastructure next to open banking, and it announced KI Exchange 2026 in Hamburg, where data and AI in banking were on the program.
What is open banking lending?
Open banking lending is credit where the lender reads the borrower's account data, with consent, through a licensed account information provider and the bank's PSD2 interface. The transactions replace uploaded payslips and statements in the credit check.
What does a lender see in an open banking credit check?
Usually the account holder's name, the IBAN and the transactions of the last 90 days, sometimes also other accounts and credit cards. Lenders look at income, spending, existing loans and signs of payment problems.
Do I have to use the account check to get a loan?
No. Lenders that offer the check also accept the classic route with uploaded proof of income, which takes longer. Giromatch names one to three business days for that route.
Open banking in lending and Finance Loop
Finance Loop covers open banking in lending in its Payments & Digital Money track, next to credit scoring, AI in lending and FIDA. Credit risk and data teams meet the providers behind the account check at Finance Loop events.
Finance Loop is a professional network supporting the institutional use of emerging technologies in finance, such as AI, digital payments, cloud and blockchain solutions. Finance Loop helps its members build skills and personal networks in these fields: Investment & Digital Assets, Payments & Digital Money, Digital Infrastructure & Sovereignty, and Risk & Compliance.