Newcastle Building Society uses Open Banking to help customers in financial stress

The new online facility, which has been developed by Paylink Solutions, will be available to customers who may need extra support in understanding their financial position before making arrangements to change mortgage and loan repayment terms.

Customers log in to the service, give their consent and bank name and have all of their spending and earnings aggregated within 20 seconds.

Less time will be spent by advisers collating information, says the Society, which will increase the time they can spend outlining options and providing support and personalised debt advice.

Michael Conville, head of mortgage operations at Newcastle Building Society, says: “Our Society’s mortgage arrears rates are well below the sector average, and when we receive calls from customers who are either approaching or are in some form of financial difficulty, we want to be able to do the best we can for them. In instances like these, customers may be in a heightened state of stress and may be unsure about their financial situation.

“Offering this digital service, which can quickly provide an accurate overview of income and expenditure utilising Open Banking, reduces the onus on the customer to provide this information. With the facts at our fingertips we can spend more time discussing how we can support customers.”