Open banking and business loans

Open banking is one of the quiet reasons business finance has become so much easier to reach. Instead of downloading months of PDFs, emailing them around and waiting for someone to read them, you can give your bank permission to share your transaction data securely with an accredited provider in a couple of minutes. In Australia, open banking runs under a government framework called the Consumer Data Right. This guide explains how open banking and business loans fit together, how consent works for businesses, how your data is protected, and how to switch sharing off.

What is open banking in Australia?

Open banking is the ability to direct your bank to share your banking data with a provider you choose. In Australia it operates under the Consumer Data Right (CDR), a national framework overseen by the Treasury, the ACCC and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).

The core idea is simple: the data about your accounts belongs to you, so you should be able to use it to get a better product or service. The OAIC describes it as letting you give an accredited business access to your data so it can offer products tailored to your needs, with consent that you can withdraw at any time.

Banking was the first sector. The big four banks began sharing data in 2020, other banks followed, and data on business finance products has been in scope since 2021 for the majors and 2022 for other banks. Non-bank lenders are the next group to join, with the ACCC announcing in July 2026 that they’ll be phased in from November 2026 depending on their size. According to the ACCC, around 1.3 million Australians were already using the CDR at that point.

Can businesses use the Consumer Data Right?

Yes, and this is the part many owners don’t realise. How you share depends on your business structure:

• Sole traders with accounts in their own name generally share as individuals, the same way they’d share a personal account.
• Companies, trusts and partnerships share through a nominated representative. That’s a person aged 18 or over whom the business nominates to give, amend and manage data-sharing authorisations on its behalf.

Banks are required to give business customers a way to nominate and revoke representatives. In practice, this is usually a setting in business online banking or a request to your bank. If you’re a director and can’t see a data-sharing option for your business account, check whether anyone has been nominated yet. It’s worth sorting out before you need it.

How does sharing bank data with a lender work?

The flow takes a few minutes and follows the same pattern at every bank.

1. You start on the lender’s side. The lender (or the accredited technology provider it uses) asks you to connect your bank.
2. You see a consent screen. It sets out who is asking, exactly what data they want (for example, account details and transactions), what it will be used for (assessing your loan application) and for how long, up to a maximum of 12 months.
3. You’re redirected to your own bank. You log in on your bank’s own site or app and confirm with a one-time password. Your password never goes to the lender.
4. You authorise specific accounts. Choose the business accounts you want to share. Share all the accounts your income flows through, so the assessment is complete.
5. The data arrives securely. The lender receives categorised transaction data rather than a PDF, which is why assessment can move so quickly.
6. You manage it from dashboards. Both your bank and the recipient must provide a dashboard showing the consent, and a simple way to withdraw it.

How does open banking compare with other ways to share statements?

Open banking isn’t the only way lenders read statements digitally. Here’s how the common methods compare.

All three are legitimate. If speed matters, a digital option usually gets you to a decision sooner. If you’re unsure which one your application is using, just ask your lending specialist.

How is my data protected?

The CDR has some of the strongest data rules in Australian law. Key protections include:

• Only accredited recipients (or businesses operating under an arrangement with one) can receive CDR data. Accreditation involves meeting information security and privacy requirements.
• Consent must be specific. The recipient must say what data it wants, why, and for how long. It can’t quietly use your data for something else.
• Withdrawal must be easy. The OAIC’s guidance requires the withdrawal process to be no more complicated than the process of giving consent.
• Redundant data. Accredited recipients must let you elect to have redundant data deleted.
• Regulators with teeth. The ACCC and OAIC enforce the rules and handle complaints.

How do I revoke consent?

You can revoke consent at any time, in either of two places:

• At your bank: open the data-sharing or consent section of online banking, find the arrangement and stop sharing. (For business accounts, this is done by the nominated representative.)
• At the recipient: use the consent dashboard provided by the lender or its technology provider and withdraw.
• Ask for deletion: if you no longer want the recipient to hold the data, elect to have it deleted.
• Check it’s gone: the arrangement should show as inactive on your bank’s dashboard.

A good habit is to withdraw consents you no longer need once your loan has been funded, unless the lender needs ongoing access for a product like a line of credit review, in which case they’ll explain why.

Example scenario — illustrative only. A Canberra IT consultancy wanted to share its company account, but the director couldn’t find a sharing option. The bank hadn’t recorded a nominated representative yet. She nominated herself through business online banking, connected the account in a few minutes, and chose a short consent period that covered the application only.

Why does open banking make business loans easier?

Because it turns the slowest part of an application into the fastest. The Reserve Bank has noted that lenders increasingly use transaction histories and bank statement analysis to automate lending decisions, which has helped speed up approvals for smaller loans. When your statements arrive already organised, an assessor can spend their time understanding your business instead of retyping numbers.

For you, that means fewer documents, fewer emails and a clearer answer, sooner. It’s a big part of how FastBiz Loans can make decisions in as little as 4 hours. To see the full picture, read how business loan decisions are made in 4 hours and what lenders look for in bank statements.

Ready to try the easy way?

If you like the idea of a fully digital application, our online business loans page walks through the process from enquiry to funding, and fast business loans explains what makes speed possible. When you’re ready, start a 60-second enquiry. It doesn’t affect your credit score, and a lending specialist will tell you which statement-sharing options are available for your application.