Jan

Social distancing has given Open Banking referencing its big break, claims PRS firm

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Demand from letting agents and landlords for Open Banking in the referencing market has been given a boost by Covid and will continue to grow as young renters embrace new technology, according to The Lettings Hub.

The company is launching DIY tenant referencing this month – a fully automated web-based system, giving tenants and letting agents full visibility and management of the tenant referencing process.

Open banking is a secure way for tenants and guarantors to share their financial information directly from their bank; letting agents submit a form after a tenant applicant consents to using open banking to access their financial records such as credit and address history and ID checks.

Through a partnership with The Lettings Hub, estate agency giant Leaders Romans Group is rolling out more Open Banking services across all its branches to make tenant referencing easier for agents and says the technology is intuitive and easy to use, while tenants are happy to consent and the results are fast and accurate.

The Lettings Hub CEO Heidi Shackell (pictured) tells LandlordZONE that open banking has been particularly useful during the pandemic as it offers a faster, simpler way to provide proof of income and rent payments, especially if their referees were unavailable due to furlough.

She says younger renters are digital natives who increasingly expect services to be instantly available and delivered online, using the latest technology such as TouchID and Face Recognition.

“We believe these trends are set to continue into 2021 as we all become more accustomed to accessing services online,” she says.

“Most established tenant referencing providers now use Open Banking and some new providers have come to market using open banking alone.

“Many of these new entrants have struggled to gain traction however, as letting agents and landlords recognise that it’s not enough to just obtain open banking data to include in the report – it’s how you use that data that’s important.”

View Full Article: Social distancing has given Open Banking referencing its big break, claims PRS firm