Credit reporting agency and information services company Experian has applied for accreditation as a data recipient under the Consumer Data Right and announced plans to offer a credit assessment service to lenders. Credit reporting agencies have been slow to get involved in open banking in Australia. The only one with accreditation currently is illion. Experian has appointed Envestnet Yodlee as its open data API provider. The partnership will allow Experian to integrate the APIs necessary to access data from CDR data holders. Simone Jemmett, general manager of Experian digital, said the company’s Australian open banking strategy would focus on affordability assessments, which lenders use in making lending decisions. “Lenders will be able to draw on open data sources to replace cumbersome credit application processes that require customers to print and upload manual statements. The solution accesses transaction data in real time, improving accuracy, reducing fraud and data error risks,” Jemmett said. Loan application assessment using open banking data appears to be an area of emerging demand. In January, mortgage aggregator Finsure announced that it will work with accredited data recipient Frollo to access reports on loan applicants’ savings, income and expenses, assets and liabilities and overall financial position.  Brokers can use the data to verify data supplied by the loan applicant. Jemmett said: “Open data solutions have the capability to solve two of the biggest challenges for Australian lenders: accuracy of data used to support responsible ending and streamlining the customer experience to get to a faster decision.” She said open data would also allow lenders to better manage financial hardship cases. One of the challenges for Experian and others developing open banking use cases is getting consumers to agree to share their banking data. A survey conducted by Forrester Consulting for Experian last year found that 22 per cent of people are unlikely to share their transaction data. Forrester said people would need to be persuaded that open banking is secure and overcomes any need for paperwork to get them to change their position.