Europe’s leading open banking platform, Tink, has today announced the launch of its new product Expense Check, designed to simplify and streamline the customer affordability verification process for lenders.

Powered by open banking, the solution lets banks and lenders seamlessly 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 appetite 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 latest 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.

Tasha Chouhan, UK & IE Banking Lead at Tink commented: “Having an up-to-date, holistic picture of someone’s financial situation is vital when it comes to making an accurate risk assessment. Not only does Expense Check streamline the way lenders process data, but it also heightens 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 this year, 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 seamlessly 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.