The running balance chart shows an account balance over up to the entire period of the connection. The default view is the last 90 days.

Loans Officers using this feature are better able to understand the impact of a particular item of spend by viewing the related transactions in a table below the chart.

Click 'balances' on the spending subtab to access this chart:

The running balances are per account. Therefore, if there is more than one account you will need to select it in the accounts table above the chart:

The bank account table shows:

The date range for the chart defaults to 90 days:

This can be changed to 180 days or for the entire duration of the connection (usually 12 months):

If there is an overdraft it will appear as a red dotted line on the running balance, usually towards the bottom of the chart.

Anything below the red line means that the applicant was over their limit.

The overdraft limit is visible in the accounts table:

When assessing an application, you can view a particular transaction which may have significantly reduced the balance. Clicking the dot at the end of a reduction in the balance will reveal the associated transaction(s).

In the example below, a mortgage for just over £900 reduced the account balance to £1,153:

A fall in balance, followed by a quick increase may be the result of a bounced direct debit:

In the above example that there is a slow deterioration in the running balance.

In this particular case, the trend downwards can also be seen in the disposable income chart:

The chart can be used to better understand sudden increases in the balance.

In this case a credit was received for £5,000 from Salary Finance which provides loans direct from payroll:

In the same case, the sudden drop in the balance was explained by a £3,000 payment to Newday Cards Ltd. This company provides store cards and so was a likely recipient of a consolidation loan received the day before:

Clicking on a dot will list the transactions for that day.

Where there are no transactions the running balance will continue in a straight line.

In the example below the periods highlighted in yellow form a straight line because there are no transactions. The periods highlighted in green have multiple transactions over a short period of time:

When looking at the transaction table you may also wish to see what happens over the next period. You can click 'next' in the transaction table rather than each dot:

This will move through the transactions by day. In this example there was no spending on 2 Jan 2023. But the spending recommenced on 3 January:

There can be more than one account returned. In this example there is a savings account and a current account.

Viewing this saving accounts and clicking a specific transaction for 15th September, it is possible to see a £250 transfer out, taking the balance to zero:

When selecting the current account, that transfer of £250 can be seen arriving into the current account:

Not all banks will show a running balance. This can be the case with some of the older bank systems. In those cases you'll see 'no running balance data available for this account'

We have produced an initial guide on using the open banking and credit data in combination to get a better view of credit risk. Read it here.