Open Banking can offer benefits for everyone. But landlords, who handle large amounts of financial information like rent and expense payments on a regular basis, stand to benefit from it more than most. Here we will look at how to get starting using Open Banking.
What is Open Banking and why use it?
Open Banking is a system that allows accounts bank accounts and other financial products to share information, with your permission, digitally and securely.
Open Banking can make tasks like managing money, making/receiving payments, accounting and tax returns quicker and simpler, since much can be automated and manual handling of information is no longer necessary. New financial products and services available via Open Banking might make your business more efficient and profitable too.
Here’s more information about what Open Banking is and How Open Banking Can Save Time, Money And Make Landlords More Efficient.
Using Open Banking is optional. You do not have to use it.
Open Banking: A start up guide for landlords
If you decide you wish to use Open Banking here are some tips for using it effectively and safely:
Check if your bank accounts and other financial products are usable with Open Banking. Not all are but more are becoming compatible with Open Banking all the time.
An account or product must be website or app based as offline accounts cannot use Open Banking. So, if you haven’t already, register any accounts or products for online banking and download the relevant apps to your phone or device.
Explore what other, third party products can offer. A range of Open Banking products are also available from third parties and some of these might be useful to you. These include websites and apps which can show all your bank accounts in one place (known as aggregators), money management apps and financial comparison apps.
You can find out about some of the products and services that are available on the Open Banking website.
Be scam aware. As Open Banking is relatively new there is a risk that of scam products and services appearing. It is a good idea to check that any unknown product or service you wish to use is FCA registered and is a regulated provider on the Open Banking website.
Open Banking is the trading name of The Open Banking Implementation Entity (OBIE). This has been set up by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to deliver Open Banking in the UK.
Be security conscious. You should always be concerned about allowing access to your bank account and other financial accounts using Open Banking.
Check what access and permissions you are granting with any Open Banking product or service you use. Check what information you will be granting them access to, what they can do with that information and precisely what permissions you are giving them. This information should be clearly stated by each provider.
In particular be aware that granting an Open Banking provider permission to view transactions on your bank account is quite different to granting them permission to make transactions for you. If, for an example, an Open Banking app doesn’t need to make payments for you check that they aren’t requesting this permission and that you aren't inadvertently authorising it.
Authorise Open Banking access. To do this you might either be asked to send your bank account details securely through the provider’s own portal or you may be directed to your own banking app or online portal to login and confirm you wish to share this information. You will need to do this using your usual login process, perhaps using two factor authentication (2FA) or by fingerprint or facial recognition on your phone.
Your bank or other account operator will then give the other provider access to your data.
You can now start to use and benefit from Open Banking!
Note. Open Banking access can only be granted to each provider for periods of up to 90 days. After this you will need to re-authenticate your consent. You may need to do this either through your bank and/or the third party provider.
You can also revoke some or all of the permissions you have granted at any time. It makes sense to review to whom you have given Open Banking access periodically and revoke it where it is no longer required. Most providers should provide an authorisation dashboard or similar which summarises what permissions you have given.
Check your statements regularly. Open Banking has high levels of built-in security. However, it is good practice to check your statements periodically. If you notice any unusual activity or payments from your account contact your bank or account provider immediately.
If a payment is made from your account which you did not authorise then, assuming your account is with a regulated provider, you can claim a refund directly from them.
Using Open Banking with PaTMa
PaTMa Property Manager is a complete system for managing your rental properties. It can help you manage tenancies, manage maintenance, manage your finances and accounts and prepare the information you need for your tax return. PaTMa Property Manager is designed to save landlords time, money and make them more efficient.
PaTMa’s Open Banking integration means you can record rents in a couple of clicks with no data entry. Expenses are also much faster to record. In the future PaTMa will start detecting rent payments automatically and pro-actively notify you that a tenant has paid. You won’t even need to check your bank account!
Once you have set up an account with PaTMa you can add your bank account using the Bank Feeds tool.
