Tink , an Open Banking platform, has launched its Expense Check, a product designed to simplify the customer affordability verification process for lenders. Powered by Open Banking, the solution lets banks and lenders verify customers’ affordability in a matter of minutes at the point of application.

By linking to applicants’ bank accounts, it provides lenders an up-to-date and verified view of fixed and discretionary spending. Tink’s Expense Check helps meet the expectations for tighter risk assessments as the cost-of-living crisis is factored into future affordability checks. The product also enables regular affordability reviews, helping lenders meet their regulatory requirements.

Against a backdrop of rising inflation and cost-of-living struggles, Tink’s affordability service gives lenders the ability to gain clearer, real-time insight into the applicants’ affordability, including categories such as housing costs, loan payments, insurance, utilities, and transportation. And by giving lenders an accurate view of applicants' outgoings, it can help increase access to finance for those who struggle to prove their creditworthiness through more traditional checks. Launching in the Nordics and the UK, Expense Check will then be rolled out more widely across Europe.

More about Tink’s Expense Check Not only does Expense Check simplify the way lenders process data, it also improves user experience, with applicants benefiting from a simple, automated application process that doesn’t require any paperwork – and brings near-instant results. At the same time, because access to data enables lenders to make more accurate affordability decisions, it can help to make financial services more accessible, particularly for those with fluctuating incomes or thin credit history. Earlier in 2022, Tink launched Income Check in the UK – a solution which streamlines income verification using Open Banking technology, enabling businesses to use real-time current account data to verify income in minutes.

The two tools can now be used in tandem through the same loan application flow to simply and verify both income and expenditure – reducing the time it takes to apply, while optimising approval rates and user experience.  Tink’s Open Banking platform is live in 18 markets, serving more than 300 financial institutions including NatWest, American Express, Revolut, Paypal, ABN AMRO, and BNP Paribas. More on Tink’s recent developments In July 2022, Tink rolled out an upgrade to its payment stack with the launch of settlement accounts, a new feature that aggregates Payment Initiation Service (PIS) settlement.

This launch enables real-time payment confirmation, instant refunds and payouts, integrated reporting, and more. This means that, in addition to being able to benefit from Tink’s PIS technology – which already delivers instant bank payments – merchants can now also benefit from a full-stack payments offering that enables fully automated refunds, payouts, and reconciliation. In March 2022, Tink was acquired by Visa.

With the transaction complete, the combination of Visa and Tink is expected to enable clients to deliver benefits for consumers to better control their financial experiences, including managing their money, financial data, and financial goals. .