When you are looking for funding options, you want fast decisions, and a safe method to easily share your data with potential lenders. The most convenient way how to share your banking and financial information is to use Open Banking. This guide will give you a practical understanding of Open Banking and answer your most frequently asked questions.
Open Banking – What is it?
Open banking is a secure method of sharing your bank account information with authorised third parties. It allows you to grant permissions to trusted apps and services to access your financial data from your bank, removing the need to upload multiple documents or send information in emails.
Most banks in the UK support this technology and allow their users to take advantage of Open Banking to access a wide range of financial services and insights.
Data Security
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) regulates Open Banking in the UK, which means that only FCA authorised companies (and their clients) can use Open Banking APIs to access and process bank account information via Open Banking.
You as the bank account holder are the only one that can grant access to your data, and any information will be sent encrypted to the authorised third party. Only parties that have been authorised by you will be able to access the data, and you have the right to revoke the access at any point in time.
Here at Sigma Lending, we use a trusted technology provider called GoCardless to access Open Banking data with many years of experience and robust security and compliance frameworks.
What are the benefits of connecting?
Security – Open Banking allows you to transfer your financial data securely to us.
User-friendliness – Connect your data with just a few clicks.
Speed – Data collection and analysis processes that once took days now take minutes.
Control – You are in control of who gets access to your data at any point in time.
Safety – The Open Banking access is read-only – we can only view your bank account information, there is no way for us to amend your information or to transact on your bank accounts.
Getting started with Sigma Lending
We will invite you to share your company account data with us by sending you a link during the application process. This link will send you to our connection wizard , which will guide you through the process.
To get started with connecting your bank accounts, follow these steps:
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Start the Connection Wizard: Your invitation gives you access to the connection wizard. Simply click “connect” and follow the instructions on the screen.
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Choose Your Bank: Select the financial institution where you hold your accounts. GoCardless supports a wide range of banks and financial service providers. If your bank currently does not support open banking, please contact us.
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Authorise Access to Bank: Follow the on-screen instructions to log in to your bank account and grant permission for GoCardless to access your financial data. This process may vary slightly depending on your bank.
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Data Access: GoCardless will retrieve your financial data securely from your bank and provide it to us in an easy-to-read format.
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Connect Additional Bank Accounts: If you have more than one business bank account, you can select additional bank accounts and repeat steps 1 to 4. The connection wizard will display all the accounts you have connected.
You are agreeing to the transfer of data only. Neither we nor the open banking platform have access to your accounts or your login credentials.
FAQ
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What is Open Banking?
Open Banking is a secure system that allows you to share your bank account information with third parties that you have authorised to receive your data.
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Is it safe?
The Open Banking process is highly secure and regulated. It uses industry-standard security protocols and encryption to protect your data during transmission.
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How does it work?
Our connection wizard will guide you through the setup and ask for your permission to grant access to your data. After selecting your bank, you will be redirected to log into your bank account using your online banking credentials.
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Do I automatically opt into Open Banking if I apply for a loan with you?
You do not have to use Open Banking during the application phase if you don’t want to. We will accept electronic bank statements in order to evaluate your loan. If we approve your loan, we will ask that you activate the Open Banking link in order to share your bank account information.
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How do we use the data?
We can determine whether you are in a position to pay back the requested loan amount by analysing your income and expenses. This allows for a more accurate assessment of your financial capacity and ensures our proposal will be affordable for you.
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Who is GoCardless?
GoCardless is a financial technology company that builds and provides a platform for payments and financial data solutions.
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Can you access my bank account?
No, when you authorise us via Open Banking we will only have read-only view. We will only be able to access your transaction details and account information. We will not gain access to your bank account or your online banking logging details.
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Can GoCardless access my bank account?
GoCardless cannot access your bank account or view your online banking logging details. They only provide the technological infrastructure that allows you to share the data with us in a secure manner.
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How is my data protected?
You have full control over the sharing of your bank account information. You can remove consent and we will no longer have access to your bank account information. GoCardless uses robust security measures to protect your data. This includes encryption, access controls, and compliance with industry standards. Your data is stored securely and is not shared with unauthorised parties.