™
What Open Banking
shares.
Connecting your business account through Open Banking can make an affordability check quicker — but it is fair to ask exactly what it lets a lender see. This guide explains, in plain English, what is read, what is not, who is in control, and how to switch the connection off. And as ever, the company borrows, never you personally.
Open Banking is simply a secure, regulated way to share your own bank data with a provider you choose — with your consent, and only for as long as you allow it. In lending, it replaces the old routine of downloading statements and emailing them across.
Creditcorp is the growing name for the Credicorp group, and Credicorp Limited is the lender behind it. When a company applies, an Open Banking connection is offered as a faster way to show recent trading than sending statements by hand. This page is a guide, not an application — the exact requirements are set out on the lender's own site, credicorp.co.uk.
The borrower is the company — a UK private limited company (Ltd), LLP or PLC — not the director who signs. The account you connect is the business account, and a director's personal banking is not part of a company affordability check. This is not a personal or consumer process.
How the connection is made
You are always the one who approves it, at your own bank's login.
Open Banking never asks you to hand over your banking username and password to anyone else. Instead, you are sent to your own bank's secure login or app, where you sign in exactly as you normally would, choose which account to share, and approve the request. The bank then issues a limited, time-bound permission that lets the provider read the data you agreed to — and nothing more.
Two things follow from that. First, your bank login details stay with your bank; they are never shared with the lender. Second, because you grant the permission at your bank and your bank records it, you can see it and switch it off from the same place at any time. The framework is the UK's regulated Open Banking standard, built around your consent.
Exactly what is — and is not — read
For an affordability check, the access is read-only: it can look, but it cannot touch.
What is read
- Account details — the account name, type and sort code or identifier, so the right account is in view.
- The balance — the current and available balance on the connected business account.
- Transactions — a list of money in and out, with dates, amounts and the names on each payment, over a recent period.
- Regular patterns — the steady ins and outs that those transactions reveal, such as recurring income and standing commitments.
In short, it is the same information that already sits on your business bank statements — shared securely instead of printed.
What is not read — and cannot be done
- No moving money — read-only access cannot make a payment, set up a transfer or change a standing order.
- No changes to your account — it cannot alter details, open or close anything, or touch your overdraft.
- No login credentials — your banking username and password are never shared; you authenticate at your own bank.
- No accounts you did not pick — only the account you connect is read, and not a director's personal banking.
Reading information and initiating a payment are separate Open Banking permissions. A statements check only ever uses the read-only one.
How to switch it off again
Consent is yours to give and yours to withdraw — and it expires on its own anyway.
An Open Banking connection is not a permanent door left open. It is a specific, revocable consent, and you can end it whenever you like. There are three things worth knowing:
- Revoke at your bank. In your business online banking or app, look for a "data sharing", "connected apps" or "third-party access" area. From there you can see who you have shared with and stop any connection. Once revoked, no further data is read.
- Or ask the provider. You can also ask the provider you shared with to end the access. Either route works, and ending it at the bank is the surest.
- It expires by itself. Account-information access is time-limited under the Open Banking rules. If you do nothing, it lapses on its own and would need renewing — it does not run forever.
Revoking access stops future reads; it does not erase information already used in a decision, which the lender keeps and handles under its privacy information. How the lender uses and protects business and personal data, and your rights over it, are set out at credicorp.co.uk.
Why a company might choose it
It is optional — but for many directors it is simply the easier route.
What it can save you
- No statement wrangling — nothing to download, redact or email; the recent picture is shared in a few taps.
- A quicker, cleaner read — accurate, structured data tends to move an application along faster than scanned pages.
- You stay in control — you pick the account, approve at your bank, and can switch it off at any time.
If you would rather not
- Statements still work. Uploading recent business bank statements is the usual alternative where you prefer it.
- It is not all-or-nothing. You choose which account to connect, and you are not sharing a director's personal banking.
- Check the current ask. What the lender needs is set out at application and can change — confirm it before you apply.
One thing about who can borrow
Credicorp lends only to bodies corporate — UK limited companies and LLPs. Under Article 60B of the FSMA Regulated Activities Order 2001, lending to a body corporate is not a regulated consumer-credit agreement, so this is business credit rather than consumer credit, and it is not for sole traders or for borrowing in a personal name. The full position is set out on lending and regulation.
Open Banking questions
The questions directors ask most. For anything specific to your business, the lender's team are at credicorp.co.uk.
What does Open Banking actually share?
Read-only information about your business account: details of the account itself, the balance, and a list of transactions — the dates, amounts, and the names on money coming in and going out. It is the same information that already appears on your business bank statements, shared securely rather than printed and emailed.
Can a lender move money or make payments through it?
No. The access used for an affordability check is read-only — account information only. It cannot move money, set up a payment, change a standing order or alter anything in your account. Reading information and initiating a payment are two separate Open Banking permissions, and a statements check only ever uses the read-only one.
Does it see my personal accounts?
Only the account you choose to connect, which for a company is its business bank account. You pick which account to share at your bank's own login screen; nothing else is reached, and a director's personal accounts are not part of a company affordability check.
How do I revoke access?
You stay in control. You can withdraw consent in your business online banking or banking app — usually under a "data sharing", "connected apps" or "third-party access" setting — and you can also ask the provider you shared with to stop. Once revoked, no further data is read. Access is also time-limited and expires on its own unless you renew it.
Do I have to use Open Banking to borrow?
It is offered to make the picture quicker and more accurate, not forced on you. The lender sets out what it needs at application, and uploading recent business bank statements is the usual alternative. Check the current detail at credicorp.co.uk.
Where to go next
Open Banking is one input into a wider check, so the companion guides fill in the rest: how affordability is assessed sets out everything the lender weighs, what you need to apply lists the practical bits to have ready, and the jargon buster defines the terms in passing. The exact data ask lives with the lender, and the whole series sits on the Learn hub. You can also dip into the calculators and tools before you apply, or read the wider group story at creditcorpgroup.co.uk.
Ready when you are
Applying, drawing down and managing your account all happen on the lender's site, credicorp.co.uk.