NatWest Drops Payslip Requirement: Open Banking Now Verifies UK Mortgage Income
NatWest said, via Equifax UK, it will use Equifax’s Verification Exchange open-banking income verification in its mortgage application process, allowing some applicants to skip payslips. Equifax said combining open-banking and credit-bureau data can raise automated income verification rates by up to 20%. The article cites NatWest H1 2026 mortgage book of £219.3bn and £20bn gross lending in H1 2026.
How this was made
The 30-second read
Why it matters
For NatWest, the change targets the most friction-heavy step in UK mortgage processing and aims to reduce payslip falsification by removing the document stage. It also claims higher automated verification rates when open-banking data is layered with traditional credit bureau data.
Market read
This is a concrete underwriting workflow change for a major UK mortgage originator, potentially affecting mortgage conversion speed, fraud controls, and competitive dynamics in UK retail lending.
What to watch
Operational integration risk, regulatory/consumer consent friction, and whether fraud shifts to identity/consent attacks that require new controls could offset efficiency gains.
Background
Equifax UK’s Verification Exchange uses open banking account transaction data (with consent) to verify income and employment for mortgage underwriting, replacing payslip document submission.
Ticker impact
NatWest will deploy Equifax UK Verification Exchange to let mortgage applicants verify income in real time, removing payslip submission and fraud risk.
Near-term impact likely modest for NWG, but could support incremental mortgage growth and lower operational costs if adoption scales.
The article is a product/process change at a major UK mortgage lender, but it provides no direct financial guidance, cost savings, or adoption metrics beyond verification-rate uplift claims from Equifax.
Market effects
If open-banking income verification proves scalable, it may accelerate digitization of UK mortgage underwriting and raise competitive expectations for faster, lower-friction approvals.
UK retail banking and mortgage origination could see incremental competitive pressure as a top lender changes verification workflow.
Limited direct global read-through, but it reinforces a broader trend toward open-banking data use in credit underwriting.
Counterpoint
The benefit may be overstated if consent rates, data quality, or edge cases (irregular income) limit automation, keeping manual review burdens largely intact.
Key entities
- bankNatWest
UK high street bank deploying Equifax UK Verification Exchange in its mortgage application pipeline.
- data_providerEquifax UK
Announced the Verification Exchange solution and provided analysis on automated income verification rate improvements.
- data_providerEquifax
Referenced via Equifax UK’s algorithms and analysis for income verification uplift.
- regulatorFCA
Mortgage Rule Review and consultation CP26/18 are cited as enabling innovation for variable and irregular income borrowers.
