What is Open Banking?

When you’re looking to rent a home, you’ll be asked by the landlord or estate agent to provide references to show you can afford the rental payments.

A traditional reference check takes into account your credit score and affordability. This type of check often uses bank statements, payslips and references from your employer and previous landlords, which can be time-consuming to source. Open Banking replaces these steps in the referencing process. 

Open Banking is a system that enables approved apps and services to access your financial information in a secure way.  

If your lettings agent uses our Rightmove Landlord and Tenant Services team to carry out their referencing checks, you’ll be asked if you’d like to opt in to Open Banking as part of the process.  

Rightmove Landlord and Tenant Services work with leading Open Banking providers Equifax and consents.online, who securely check your online banking transactions, and assess whether you can afford the rent for your chosen property. 

How do I use Open Banking? 

If you choose to opt in, you’ll be giving consent for the Open Banking providers we work with, Equifax and consents.online, to securely access your online banking services and check your transactions in a way that meets referencing requirements. As part of the process of giving consent, you’ll be asked to log in to your online banking service and approve the Open Banking checks. 

Open Banking aims to make the referencing process quicker and smoother, though it’s not mandatory. You can also choose to submit evidence of your income by providing bank statements, payslips and letters. 

How can Open Banking help me when I’m looking to rent a home on Rightmove? 

You’ll spend less time finding and sharing documents like payslips, bank statements and letters from employers, and have fewer questions to answer on your referencing application form. 

You could also find out whether you’ve passed your reference checks sooner, giving certainty around whether you can afford the property to both the landlord, and the estate agent. 

After your eligibility has been checked, you can contact the Open Banking provider and request to have your data removed, should you wish.