Italian lending platform embeds Tink’s technology

European Open Banking platform Tink’s ‘Income Check’ product has been embedded into Italian lending fintech platform ConTe.it Prestiti’s offering, to provide instant income verification during the credit application process.

The partnership means that ConTe.it Prestiti will be able to make more accurate and timely affordability assessments, improving the lending application process by speeding it up.

Tink’s Income Check product, which is powered by Open Banking, allows banks and lenders to instantly verify an individual’s income using real-time data directly from their bank account.

Where income-related transactions over more than 12 months are categorised as salary, pension, benefits or cash deposits, customers can consent to connecting to their bank account, using either face recognition technology or via a “single click”.

By embedding Tink’s technology, ConTe.it Prestiti will be able to rollout and expand its lending offering across Italy.

Francesco Cristofaro, head of IT and UX at ConTe.it Prestiti, said: “At ConTe.it Prestiti, we are rethinking the personal loan market and by partnering with Tink, we will be able to offer a more tailored loan exclusively on the characteristics of the individual applicant.

“This enables us to be truly inclusive in our financial services offering.”

Cristofaro added that “Open Banking is the essential starting point to becoming the first lender in Italy to offer instant loans”.

According to Daniel Henriquez, Southern Europe banking lead for Italy at Tink, called real-time insights “vital” for accurate loan application assessments.

“Tink’s Income Check is fast, frictionless and based on up-to-date income information, rather than credit scores or antiquated risk decisions.

“This allows ConTe.it Prestiti to gain clearer, more comprehensive insight into a loan applicant’s repayment ability, providing them with the best loan process available,” he said.

In November last year, Tink launched an Open Banking-powered feature, called ‘Balance Check’, enabling its business customers to verify how much a user has in their bank account.

It followed the launch of ‘Expense Check’ to provide lenders with access to real-time data to improve the accuracy of customer affordability assessments.