Smarter Affordability Insights

A mid sized regulated lending business based in the Midlands had built its reputation on ethical short term loans, offering fair and flexible finance to customers across the UK. But with growing regulatory scrutiny and an increasing demand for speed, the business faced a clear challenge. It needed a better way to assess affordability that was both accurate and efficient.

The company partnered with Boshhh Fintech to integrate smarter data into its lending process. By deploying advanced open banking and credit visibility tools through the Insights Package, the lender was able to speed up underwriting, redeploy internal resources and improve the quality of its decisions. The result was a faster, more sustainable approach to lending without compromising on compliance or customer care.

Facing Key Challenges

Prior to working with Boshhh, affordability checks were handled manually. PDF statements and printed bank records had to be reviewed line by line. The process was time consuming, prone to error and left underwriters with little room for deeper risk analysis.

In many cases, customers were unable to provide complete or accurate views of their financial history. Without real time insight into credit behaviour or income patterns, underwriters were left working with guesswork.

This lack of visibility created delays, inefficiencies and risk. Decisions could take days. Evidence files were often incomplete. And in some cases, poor financial habits or hidden liabilities were not discovered until it was too late.

Real Time Data Tools

To solve this, the lender implemented two core tools from Boshhh’s Insights Package. These were Credit Insights and Bank Insights.

Credit Insights revealed critical details about customer borrowing behaviour that traditional checks missed. This included buy now pay later usage, missed payments and irregular repayment activity. It helped build a fuller picture of an applicant’s credit exposure and overall financial discipline.

Bank Insights connected directly to the customer’s account using open banking. It provided live access to income and expenditure, categorised spending patterns and highlighted indicators of financial stress.

This structured view allowed underwriters to make faster and better informed decisions. Each file came with a summarised overview tailored to the firm’s own risk appetite, along with affordability scores and relevant alerts. Here is an example of the API output from the Bank Data platform:

{
  "total_income": 3125.00,
  "average_spend": 2460.00,
  "overdraft_usage": "frequent",
  "credit_behaviour": "high utilisation",
  "flags": ["irregular income", "BNPL activity"],
  "timestamp": "2025-04-14T12:38:00Z"

Operational Results Delivered

The impact was immediate. The time required to assess affordability dropped from a range of three to five days to under one hour. Incomplete application files, once a major cause of delay, fell from 41 percent to just 7 percent.

The lender’s approval rate climbed from 44 percent to 57 percent thanks to the greater visibility provided by real time financial data. Customers were no longer required to upload documents manually, making the journey quicker and more seamless. Satisfaction with the application process rose significantly.

Compliance performance also improved. The system ensured every affordability assessment was backed by FCA compliant data. And with automated summaries, underwriters were able to make consistent decisions while freeing up time for high risk reviews.

A Better Lending Model

These results showed clearly that better data leads to better lending. Where the business had previously relied on labour intensive processes and incomplete customer files, it now operated with precision and speed. Credit risk was more accurately measured. Resources were redeployed to where they mattered most.

Assessment time was reduced from up to five days to under an hour. Incomplete evidence files dropped by 34 percentage points. Lending approval rates increased by 13 percentage points. Satisfaction levels rose from low to high.

Smarter Lending at Scale

With Credit Insights and Bank Data working together through the Insights Package, the business created a new standard for responsible and scalable lending. The tools were simple to integrate and easy to tailor to the company’s own lending policies.

There was no need for complex development or process overhaul. The transformation came from having better visibility at speed into each customer’s financial life. And that made all the difference.

Lending with Confidence

For this Midlands based lender, partnering with Boshhh meant more than operational uplift. It meant confidence. Confidence in every approval made, in every customer interaction and in the future of their business model.

This is what modern lending looks like. Faster, safer, fairer. Powered by real time insights and tools designed for the realities of today’s financial world.