Planky Blog

25 April 2020

The Missing Link: How FriendlyScore’s open banking solutions can fill a major gap in the government’s COVID-19 business relief scheme

As the UK’s COVID-19 lockdown enters its second month, and with no clear end in sight, small businesses are bearing an increasingly high financial burden. The government has responded in the form of their £330bn Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS), but to date only £2.8bn of this has actually been disbursed. With current estimates predicting that one-fifth of all UK SMEs will close or fail by the end of June, time is of the essence.

17 April 2020

FinTech in the Time of COVID-19

With the global economy in a state of suspended animation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, financial services providers must pull out all the stops to ensure that individuals and small businesses suffering financial hardship are receiving appropriate support and assistance.

6 April 2020

Beyond the Credit Score. Open Banking solutions for thin file and other near-prime customers

Credit scores have long been the benchmark for determining whether or not you are eligible for credit. Credit scores also determine the quality of credit you will receive: a higher score generally translates to lower interest rates. Whilst it is easy to determine the eligibility of individuals at either end of the scoring spectrum, there exists a subset of customers in the middle known as “near-prime” for which things are less clear.

30 March 2020

Bad Debt Turned Good: How Open Banking Can Assist in Collections and Recoveries

Recovering bad debt has always been a tough ask. Each stage of the process, from tracking down debtors to formulating suitable repayment agreements, has the potential to spiral into a laborious, time-consuming exercise. But some tasks commonly undertaken by collections agents can now have the potential to be streamlined using Open Banking-based technologies, easing the burden for both agent and debtor.

13 March 2020

Open Banking: A 2020 Vision

Open Banking recently celebrated its second birthday in the UK. Whilst it has received criticism from some quarters for being slow out of the blocks, it has now gathered more than one million active users, and an increasing number of innovative use cases coming from the FinTech sector could make 2020 the year that Open Banking finally cracks the mainstream.

6 March 2020

A New Way Of Approaching Affordability

Affordability assessments for mortgages and small business loans are notoriously lengthy, taking up an unnecessary amount of time for both borrower and lender. FriendlyScore, a London-based FinTech, is employing open banking technology to help lenders dramatically streamline this process.

26 February 2020

Open Banking & SMEs: Serving the Underserved

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) account for the vast majority of businesses worldwide and are a crucial driving force behind job creation and economic development. However many SMEs report being underserved, especially when it comes to accessing finance. We investigate how the FinTech sector is working to address such problems.

29 January 2020

FriendlyScore Sandbox Bank. What is that?

Open Banking is revolutionising the way we approach finance. By giving individuals unprecedented control over their financial data and who they share it with, Open Banking has led to a greater consumer demand for more innovative services, improved personalisation and a wider choice of products. In turn, providers are looking for ways to meet these needs.