Tandem Bank leverages Open Banking to offer competitive mortgages

Tandem customers will be given the opportunity to sign up to be part of a new group of co-creators and the bank will feed their input into the design phase of the mortgage, serving the consumer directly.

The crowd-designed mortgage will be launched in the UK in 2020 after testing at the end of this year. Tandem will also leverage Open Banking to implement a new credit scoring method based on the customer’s aggregated financial data to establish a detailed picture of their spending, saving and borrowing habits, ultimately offering mortgages to people not have been accepted by other lenders.

Brits who have thin credit files, are working on a freelance basis or work as part of the gig economy are the most likely to be rejected or offered rates that are unfair, especially when they lack a regular source of income to share with lenders. Tandem may also look to provide a range of different solutions to assist consumers with schemes such as Help to Buy and Shared Ownership.

Nick Bennett, chief operating officer at Tandem Bank says: “Tandem is building a mortgage proposition that reflects the changes that are happening in the sector whilst challenging some of the established ways of doing things.

“We’re looking at new and intelligent ways of assessing whether a potential customer is creditworthy, as well as ensuring our mortgage offering meets the needs of today’s consumers rather than taking a traditional approach. This is why we’re keen to have as much input as possible from the public on ways in which we can improve the current market offering”

Ricky Knox, Tandem Bank co-founder and CEO adds: “The mortgage sector in the UK is primed for a shake-up. It’s hard for most people to get on the property ladder and we want to help them embark on that journey with new tech and a customer-first approach to design.”