Following a pilot, Nationwide Building Society has approved the market roll out of Experian’s Open Banking solution to mortgage applicants who apply via any intermediaries that use Smartr365.

This will mean mortgage applicants are no longer required to obtain statements manually from their bank before sending these to their broker for printing, certifying, scanning and uploading.

This partnership will allow Nationwide to access Experian-branded bank statements as an alternative to traditional bank statements as part of their overall mortgage application process.

The service, like a conventional bank statement, uses Open Banking to access a customer’s bank transaction data digitally with their consent. Bank transaction data is then automatically categorised to make it easier to interpret and formatted into an Experian branded bank statement reducing the time taken to assess a customer’s affordability.

The capabilities will bring consistency for underwriting assessment as well as increase quality due to the exact statement date range being provided first time. The in-built Experian authentication and ownership check instantly verifies identity, along with confirmation that an account is valid and owned by the applicant.

Also, through Smartr365’s HomeBuyer app, Experian’s Mortgage Passport gives intermediaries access to a single view of income, expenditure, and financial behaviour. This will allow applicants to consent, connect and share their financial information, including bank transactions and credit report data, with select intermediaries through a simple digital journey.

Nationwide, through Smartr365, will be one of the first lenders in the market to offer this Experian digital alternative to the traditional paper-based proof model with the ultimate ambition of supporting improved intermediary and customer experiences.

Andy Tilsley, intermediary digital relationships lead, Nationwide Building Society, said: “This is an example of how embracing technology can lead to simplification of what can be a manual and time-consuming process, one in which will improve the experience of the intermediary and Nationwide customer. This also reaffirms Nationwide’s commitment to work with key strategic partners in supporting the intermediary market striving for an effortless mortgage journey.”

Steve Thomas, managing director of strategy and innovation, Experian, added: “We’re delighted that Nationwide mortgage customers are set to benefit from Experian’s open banking solution. By using our innovative technology, we are helping to create a much quicker, seamless, and more convenient experience that meets the expectations of the modern home buyer. We hope that Nationwide are the first of many more partners who see the value in adopting this technology to help move the mortgage process into the digital age.”

Conor Murphy, CEO of Smartr365, concluded: “This is an incredibly exciting step for the industry, with the Nationwide roll out responding to consumer demands for simple, integrated, and efficient services in the home buying process. This move truly symbolises exactly where the future of the market is heading, helping consumers to enjoy a completely frictionless mortgage process from start-to-finish, and ensuring intermediaries will have more time to provide a valuable service to customers, at a time when they need more guidance than ever.

“We’re very excited by this step in our partnership with Nationwide and look forward to seeing what the future holds, as more industry players follow Nationwide’s lead by putting consumer demands at the heart of their offering.”