M&S Bank has become one of the first mortgage providers to enable Open Banking-assisted mortgage applications.

This means most customers will no longer need to source and supply copies of bank statements to support their mortgage application, as this documentation will be immediately and securely provided via the new platform.

The platform has been delivered in partnership with Equifax and AccountScore, along with its Account Information Service Provider (AISP) consents.online, which also delivered M&S Bank’s open banking solutions for credit card and personal loan applications.

“Open Banking is not only changing the way banks support their customers, but it also enables greater financial inclusion, awareness and control for consumers.” said Emma Steely, chief executive of AccountScore.

Separately, FinTech lending platform Freedom Finance will launch the first Open Banking access to a panel of lenders for secured loans in March.

This follows an industry workshop in partnership with AccountScore and Equifax which brought together both large and challenger banks to discuss a common Open Banking goal.

The service categorises transaction data to provide more detailed financial insights on customers and notifies personal finance providers with real-time changes in a customer’s circumstances that could alter their requirements or eligibility – speeding up the customer journey time from approximately two days to five minutes.

The company noted that it will continue to offer a manual application process with paper documents that can be completed over the phone with advisors.

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