FCA registration as an Account Information Services Provider gives Salad direct access to Open Banking data, strengthening the technology and regulatory foundations behind its lending model.
DECEMBER 2024
Salad has become the first consumer Community Development Finance Institution (CDFI) lender to be registered by the Financial Conduct Authority as an Account Information Services Provider (AISP).
The registration means Salad can access applicants’ Open Banking data directly, with their permission, rather than relying on a licensed third-party provider. That data is then analysed through Salad’s own proprietary machine-learning technology to assess income, expenditure and affordability and support fairer lending decisions.
Securing the licence followed almost a year of work and required Salad to demonstrate that its security systems, processes and controls met the standards required by the FCA. It also gave the business greater control over an important part of its technology infrastructure and created new opportunities to use Open Banking to support customers experiencing financial difficulty.
For Salad Group, the milestone marked another step in building proprietary financial technology around real financial behaviour, helping reduce reliance on traditional credit scores and develop more inclusive ways to understand affordability.
You can read more about the announcement here.