Money Dashboard is launching a new tool, TrueView, which offers an instant assessment of a consumer’s ability to afford a mortgage, by aggregating and organising financial transactions from online accounts and mapping them to mortgage lenders’ criteria.
TrueView aggregates and organises income and expenditure data from all online current accounts, savings accounts and credit cards, giving a bespoke assessment of what a consumer can afford based upon lender criteria. It replaces nervous consumer ‘guesstimates’ and potentially unfavourable models with an impartial and accurate view of their financial position, the firm claims.
Consumers can use the tool to both plan for and improve their affordability, and when they are ready use the assessment and data to apply for a mortgage. The app replaces fact-finds, affordability assessments and bank statement collection. Verified data can be directly accepted by brokers and lenders to support a digital mortgage application making applications digital, simple and transparent.
The tool has been taken into the FCA’s Sandbox for live testing. The FCA Sandbox is part of Project Innovate, an initiative launched in 2014 to provide new innovations with support to navigate the regulatory system, and promote competition in the interest of consumers.
Steve Tigar, CEO of Money Dashboard, said: “Our consumers’ top financial goal is to get on the property ladder but they find the prospect of getting a mortgage incredibly daunting.
“The complexity of information gathering means they put off seeking professional advice until the very last moment, which is far from ideal given that it’s the most important financial decision that most people will ever make.”
Research by Money Dashboard found that 76% of consumers take over two years to prepare for a mortgage. It is only in the final three months prior to applying for a mortgage was there any significant increase in activity to financially prepare or seek advice from a broker or lender. The preceding 21 months were occupied almost exclusively online with trying to understand how various different product and information providers might be able to help them.
Rory Bailey, Money Dashboard’s head of operations, said: “Spending 21 months searching for assurance from one information source after another, akin to being knocked around the inside of a pinball machine, blindly hoping for the result you want, is far from ideal.”