Case Study: The 5 Most Trusted Proptech Apps Using Open Banking in the UK Today

13.3 million people in the UK already use Open Banking every month, a 40 % jump year-on-year. That momentum isn’t just sitting inside fintech; it’s powering a new wave of proptech apps that verify tenants and move rent in real time.

Old-school referencing takes one-to-three days, but with an Open Banking consent flow the same checks finish “within a matter of minutes,” according to leading lettings platform Let Alliance.

The payoff is huge:

• Instant income & rent history pulled straight from the bank, no PDFs or payslip chasing.
• Account-to-account rent payments that cut card fees and failed collections.
• Regulated, revocable data sharing that keeps tenants in control and landlords compliant.

Below, you’ll meet five UK proptech apps already putting these wins to work plus a shortcut (Finexer) if you’d rather plug the same rails into your own platform without handling overheads.

📚 Guide to Open Banking for Proptech

1. Canopy

Quick Snapshot

Canopy is one of the most tenant-friendly proptech apps in the UK. It allows renters to build a digital RentPassport™ that includes verified ID, income, and historical rent payments. By removing the need for payslips or credit reports, Canopy speeds up tenant approval while reducing admin for letting agents.

Its use of Open Banking in property technology means agents and landlords can make decisions based on verified, real-time data, not estimates or documents that are easily manipulated.

How the Open Banking Flow Works

When a renter begins building their RentPassport, they’re prompted to securely connect their bank account through an FCA-regulated Open Banking flow. Canopy retrieves income data, rent payment patterns, and affordability signals directly from the bank.

This instantly verifies the tenant’s ability to afford rent and builds a financial profile agents can trust.

Why It’s a Top Tenant Affordability Tool

• No document uploads, just real-time, verified bank data.
• RentTracking helps tenants build credit by reporting on-time rent payments to Experian.
• Offers transparency for landlords and faster decisions for agents.

Why Letting Agents Use Canopy

• Referencing takes minutes, not days.
• Especially useful in competitive rental markets with high tenant volumes.
• A standout among property apps using Open Banking, blending user experience with financial accuracy.

2. Goodlord

Quick Snapshot

Goodlord is one of the most widely adopted proptech apps in the UK lettings market. It helps letting agents manage tenancy applications, digital contracts, and referencing, all on one platform. A key differentiator? Its integration of Open Banking in property technology through Credit Kudos enables automated affordability checks in minutes.

This approach reduces time-to-decision, removes guesswork, and gives agents access to verified income insights that traditional referencing tools can’t match.

How the Open Banking Flow Works

When tenants start the application process, they’re invited to connect their bank via a secure, regulated Open Banking flow. Goodlord via Credit Kudos then retrieves salary transactions, regular payments, and account stability metrics to assess tenant affordability.

The results are instantly available within the agent dashboard, eliminating the need for manual uploads or delayed responses from employers.

Why It’s a Leading Tenant Affordability Tool

• Income is verified directly from the bank, no PDFs or callbacks.
• Open Banking scores provide consistency and reduce manual bias.
• Ideal for referencing both salaried and freelance tenants.

Why Agents Use Goodlord Over Other Property Apps

• The integration is seamless, no need to use third-party platforms.
• Automated insights save time on every tenancy.
• Among the few property apps using Open Banking at scale in the UK.

3. Vouch

Quick Snapshot

Vouch is a digital referencing tool built by letting agents to simplify the application process from end to end. As part of the new generation of proptech apps, Vouch enables agents to automate income checks, employer verification, and previous landlord references. Its use of Open Banking enhances this by removing the need for tenants to upload sensitive documents or wait days for responses.

Vouch turns what used to be a multi-day manual process into a digital flow that takes minutes, powered by live, bank-sourced data.

How the Open Banking Flow Works

During the referencing journey, tenants are prompted to securely link their bank account through an FCA-regulated Open Banking flow. Vouch then retrieves verified salary payments, standing orders, and other recurring financial activity to assess the tenant’s ability to afford rent.

This data feeds directly into the Vouch decision engine, enabling a faster and more objective approval.

Why It’s One of the Most Practical Tenant Affordability Tools

• Income and rent history are verified without documents.
• Works well for both traditional applicants and gig-economy workers.
• Creates consistent, data-backed outcomes that agents can rely on.

Why Letting Agents Prefer Vouch

• Cuts referencing admin by 50% or more.
• Mobile-first journey improves completion rates.
• Among the most efficient property apps using Open Banking to reduce friction and fraud.

4. Homeppl

Quick Snapshot

Homeppl is one of the most advanced proptech apps in the UK focused on tenant fraud prevention. While many referencing tools rely on self-reported documents, Homeppl uses Open Banking to verify what really matters, how applicants behave financially.

It’s built for letting agents who want to go beyond surface-level checks and protect properties from high-risk tenancies and falsified applications.

How the Open Banking Flow Works

Homeppl prompts tenants to connect their bank account securely via Open Banking. From there, it pulls real transaction data—salary deposits, regular expenses, and rent-like payments and analyses it for risk signals.

The system checks for income manipulation, forged employer details, and suspicious spending patterns. This makes it far harder for fraud to slip through the cracks.

Why It’s a Powerful Tool for Risk Control

• Verifies actual behaviour: Traditional credit reports can be misleading. Open Banking shows the full picture.
• Identifies red flags early: If a tenant inflates income or hides debts, it’s flagged automatically.
• Protects landlord revenue: Especially valuable for high-value lets and international applicants.

Why It’s One of the Smartest Proptech Apps for Letting Agents

• Works well in markets with rising application fraud.
• Enables evidence-backed decisions without relying on documents.
• Builds trust in referencing outcomes by making them data-driven.

5. Flatfair

Quick Snapshot

Flatfair is a deposit alternative platform helping tenants move into rental properties without paying traditional upfront deposits. Instead of holding funds in a tenancy deposit scheme, Flatfair uses insurance and affordability insights to protect landlords. To assess tenant suitability fairly and quickly, it incorporates Open Banking directly into its approval process, making it one of the most tenant-friendly proptech apps on the market.

How the Open Banking Flow Works

When a tenant applies to use Flatfair’s deposit-free option, they’re invited to connect their bank account via Open Banking. This enables the platform to verify regular income, detect stable payment behaviours, and assess the applicant’s ability to meet ongoing rent obligations.

Flatfair uses this financial insight to determine eligibility for its deposit-free service, ensuring tenants aren’t overstretching and landlords aren’t under-protected.

Why It’s a Tenant-Centric Proptech Use Case

• Moves faster than traditional deposit checks by skipping manual affordability proof.
• Lowers entry barriers for responsible tenants who struggle with large upfront costs.
• Brings transparency to affordability screening by showing actual bank data, not estimates.

Why Letting Agents and Landlords Choose Flatfair

• Reduces time between tenant approval and move-in.
• Keeps rental properties competitive for tenants without upfront cash.
• Protects landlords with real-time insights, not just static credit reports.

Build Smarter Proptech Apps with Finexer’s Open Banking API

Not every lettings company needs a tenant-facing app, but more and more proptech apps are being built in-house by letting agents, property management firms, and startups. Whether you’re launching a new platform or upgrading an existing stack, adding Open Banking from scratch can be time-consuming and complex.

That’s where Finexer comes in.

Finexer provides Open Banking APIs designed specifically for property workflows, letting you fetch verified income data, view account-level rent payment history, and even collect rent via Pay by Bank. It’s fully white-labelled, FCA-regulated, and built for developers who want to go live fast.

What Finexer Enables for Proptech Apps

• Real-time tenant verification: Verify income, affordability, and account ownership in 90 seconds, no documents needed.
• Open Banking for rent payments: Request rent via payment links or QR codes and settle instantly to your bank account.
• Tenant onboarding flows: Embed KYC and account validation into your app or portal with pre-built, customisable UIs.
• Lightweight API setup: Go live in days, not months. Finexer handles the compliance and bank-side complexity.

Why It’s a Fit for Property Developers and In-House Tech Teams

• Usage-based pricing with no surprise fees.
• Built-in support for tenancy deposit checks, recurring rent payments, and income tracking.
• Backed by a UK support team that helps you map real estate workflows into live data flows.

Wrapping Up

The property market has long lagged behind in digital innovation, but these five proptech apps prove that Open Banking is changing that fast. From faster tenant approvals to secure, instant rent collection, the shift toward Open Banking in property technology is no longer a future trend, it’s already here.

Each platform we’ve covered shows a different use case:

• Canopy builds a shareable RentPassport™ from bank data
• Goodlord automates affordability with verified income
• Vouch cuts referencing time using secure bank connections
• Homeppl flags fraud with behaviour-based risk scoring
• Flatfair opens doors to deposit-free renting with real-time checks

And with Finexer, you don’t need to be a large SaaS provider to embed these same capabilities. Finexer’s API-first model gives property firms and developers everything they need to integrate tenant affordability tools, automate rent flows, and launch their own proptech apps without worrying about bank compliance or infrastructure.