Guide to 5 APIs for Debt Relief Orders and IVA Income Verification in the UK [2025]

Managing debt relief orders (DROs) and individual voluntary arrangements (IVAs) hinges on one critical requirement: accurate income verification. Yet, for many insolvency professionals, verifying a client’s income is still a manual, fragmented process relying on emailed payslips, unverified bank statements, or outdated employment records.

These traditional methods introduce delays, increase the risk of fraud, and often fail to provide the up-to-date financial picture needed to determine eligibility under the strict criteria set by the UK Insolvency Service. For example, with DROs requiring disposable income to remain under £75 per month, even a small income change can shift eligibility. When this data arrives late or incomplete, applications get delayed or rejected entirely.

According to the UK Insolvency Service, 3,847 DROs were registered in January 2025, marking an 82% increase compared to the long-term monthly average between 2014 and 2023. This dramatic rise highlights how crucial it is to streamline assessment workflows, particularly those that rely on income verification.

This is where Open Banking APIs are changing the landscape. With client consent, they allow firms to instantly access real-time, read-only income data straight from the source, typically the client’s bank account. These APIs reduce paperwork, cut assessment times, and create an auditable digital record that aligns with FCA and GDPR compliance standards.

In this blog, we’ll explore five API providers that are particularly well-suited for UK insolvency workflows, covering how each supports IVA and DRO use cases from verifying employment income to monitoring irregular earnings in real time. We’ll also compare features, assess implementation complexity, and offer best practices for teams looking to reduce risk and improve decision-making in debt relief assessments.

1. Finexer

Purpose-built for UK insolvency workflows requiring fast, compliant income checks

Why Finexer Works for DRO and IVA Assessments

Finexer gives insolvency practitioners direct access to real-time, read-only income data pulled directly from UK bank accounts, with no need for clients to upload PDFs, payslips, or manually summarise earnings. Its Open Banking API enables you to:

• View verified income transactions going back up to 365 days
• Identify income from employment, benefits, pensions, and self-employment
• Categorise inflows automatically, highlighting regularity and sufficiency for DRO thresholds
• Maintain an FCA-compliant audit trail, complete with time-stamped records and client consent logs

For IVA assessments, where disposable income and affordability projections must be accurate across months, Finexer’s data export options allow you to quickly integrate verified records into your case management platform.

Implementation in UK Insolvency Workflows

Finexer’s flexible API supports both direct integrations with insolvency case platforms and standalone use via its hosted verification portal. Practitioners can:

• Send a client a secure link to verify income via their bank
• Receive a categorised, exportable report in under 2 minutes
• Recheck income periodically with re-consent for monitoring eligibility

Because it operates under UK Open Banking and GDPR frameworks, data is fully encrypted, client-controlled, and never stored without purpose.

Benefits for Debt Professionals

Finexer is especially useful for high-volume IVA or DRO case teams that need a scalable way to process multiple clients per week while maintaining compliance and operational efficiency while being cost effective.

How Legal Tech Leaders Use Finexer to Verify Income Efficiently

“Our clients in the legal and accountancy sectors expect the highest standards of efficiency and security, and Finexer’s solutions help us deliver on those expectations every day.”
— David Kern, CEO, VirtualSignature-ID

Leading eSignature and identity provider VirtualSignature-ID partnered with Finexer to enhance their digital verification services using FCA-compliant Open Banking APIs. Faced with the challenge of integrating secure, real-time income verification into KYC and onboarding workflows, VSID chose Finexer for its:

• Flexible, UK-focused platform
• Seamless integration with existing systems
• Transparent pricing model suitable for professional services firms

Since adopting Finexer, VSID has significantly improved how it verifies the source of funds and recurring income for both law firms and accountancy clients, reducing manual reviews and increasing compliance confidence.

2. Plaid Income

For income verification, where clients earn through multiple, fragmented sources

Plaid Income aggregates data from bank transactions, payroll providers, and optional document uploads. While not designed specifically for insolvency, it may help DRO or IVA assessors in cases where income streams are inconsistent or informal, such as self-employed individuals or those juggling multiple part-time roles.

In these scenarios, practitioners can use Plaid to:

• Identify recurring inflows across multiple channels
• Spot one-off payments or cash infusions that may affect DRO eligibility
• Reduce reliance on client-provided documentation for basic verification

Though additional formatting and categorisation work may be required, Plaid can support early-stage case reviews, especially when trying to determine whether a client falls within the £75 disposable income threshold for DROs.

📚 Guide to Open Banking for Insolvency Cases

3. Yapily

For insolvency platforms and firms needing stable bank connectivity with repeat checks

Yapily Validate provides raw income data through Open Banking APIs and is commonly used behind the scenes by fintech platforms. While it doesn’t offer practitioner-facing tools, it can support insolvency workflows when integrated into case management systems.

Use cases include:

• Recurring income access for IVA re-assessments
• Monitoring for income changes during DRO moratoriums
• Pulling income from multiple linked accounts for joint or complex cases

For teams already using insolvency platforms that embed Yapily (or for larger firms with in-house development), this API can quietly power parts of the income-checking process. Its role is less about front-end features and more about underlying data availability, particularly useful in high-volume environments.

4. Salt Edge

Supports privacy-conscious income reviews with strong categorisation detail

Salt Edge provides access to UK bank data via Open Banking, with a focus on privacy, consent control, and data clarity. While not tailored for insolvency, it may be useful when clients receive benefits, self-employed income, or mixed sources that need careful interpretation.

Where It Applies in DRO or IVA Work

• Helps classify inflows where income type isn’t clearly labelled (e.g., child benefit vs. wages)
• Offers extended transaction history for identifying recurring income
• Data is securely handled and fully GDPR-compliant

Key Trade-Offs

• No insolvency-ready reports manual categorisation still required
• Better suited for firms with basic technical capacity or third-party tools

Salt Edge is most relevant when case accuracy depends on cleanly labbelled income, especially in borderline DRO eligibility or post-IVA monitoring cases.

5. Bud Financial

Provides structured income and affordability insights for client assessments

Bud offers an FCA-regulated Open Banking API that analyses bank data to surface recurring income, spending behaviours, and disposable income indicators. While not insolvency-specific, it supports DRO and IVA assessments where deeper insight into financial stability is required.

Where It Applies in DRO or IVA Work

• Detects and categorises recurring income like salary, benefits, or gig payments
• Calculates disposable income trends based on real spending data
• Useful for identifying risk indicators like unstable income or rising outgoings

Key Trade-Offs

• Requires developer setup or partner platform integration
• Not a drop-in tool for manual case handlers best with digital workflow

Bud is a strong fit when financial behaviour needs to be analysed in depth especially for IVAs or high-stakes DRO reviews where evidence must go beyond static income figures.

Choosing the Right API to Your Debt Relief Order or IVA Workflow

Final Consideration: Matching the Right API to Your Debt Relief Order or IVA Workflow

Your Need	Consider
UK-focused, easy-to-use, and cost-effective	Finexer
Clients with multiple informal income sources	Plaid
Integrated platforms and recurring access	Yapily
Benefit-heavy or unclear income flows	Salt Edge
Detailed affordability analysis and income trend insights	Bud