Equifax, the consumer and business insights expert, has formed a strategic alliance with consents.online, a digital consent management and AISP accredited Open Banking platform which for the first time allows UK consumers and small businesses to manage the sharing of their financial information.

The alliance has been established to develop solutions for the UK’s Open Banking initiative which gives online banking customers the ability to share their financial data, traditionally held by banks and building societies, with authorised third parties. The partnership will allow consumers and small businesses to provide consent to organisations they would like to be able to access their financial data and has already powered the UK’s first live consumer Open Banking journey for HSBC.

Through the consents.online app and website customers have full sight of all permissions granted, for what purpose and can allow access to be revoked, paused or extended at any time. Equifax is also working with consents.online’s data analytics platform, AccountScore, which specialises in transaction data analytics for consumer and business lending, developing products that deliver enhanced data to financial service providers in real-time, supporting lending decisions making the application process smoother for customers. This includes solutions which:

• Remove the need for manual payslips when completing financial applications;
• Categorise transaction data to provide more detailed insight on customers;
• Notify financial service providers of events in a customer’s life which could alter their requirements.

Jake Ranson, Banking and Financial Institution expert and CMO at Equifax Ltd, said: “The vision for Open Banking is to enable people to unlock the power of their data to make the most of their money, giving them more transparency, control, security and access to help. This can be achieved when the extensive data Equifax already holds is harmonised with bank transaction data. Our detailed evaluation identified consents.online as the stand-out candidate to make this a reality, thanks to its long history and deep expertise in working with transaction data globally.

“The Open Banking challenge is educating people on the latent value of data sitting in their current accounts. This will encourage ‘value exchanges’, moments when a customer explicitly consents an institution can temporarily access their current account data, because it will deliver a better or quicker outcome than previously possible. This can benefit consumers and business alike, whether applying for a loan, mortgage or credit card, the process can be improved via this exchange.”

Emma Steeley, Commercial Director at Consents Online Ltd, said: “We’re delighted to enter into a partnership with Equifax which creates significant benefits for mutual clients through the combined product offering. We have found the Equifax team has a relentless focus on driving value for clients using a combination of intellectual rigour and a best in class product set. Together with them we can provide the infrastructure, tools and control to deliver the full service, real-time solutions financial service providers require.”

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