Your affordability insights looks at the following activity in your open banking data:

Regular spending vs income: We calculate this by looking at your total income and subtracting your total outgoings. Having money left over each month shows lenders you’re financially responsible. If your regular spending, also known as expenditure, exceeds your income, lenders may think you’d rely on credit, and could therefore mean giving you credit is riskier.

Income: The income amount listed on your TotallyMoney account needs to be high enough to be accepted for the credit you’ve applied for. This is a factor that lenders consider when you apply for credit, so you should ensure this information is up-to-date before making any applications.

Savings: Saving regularly can help show you’re managing your money responsibly. If you’re not able to save, this can indicate to lenders that you may not be able to make credit repayments. Your insights only include transfers to savings accounts.

Savings in your affordability insights may not include: transfers to investment accounts (such as ISAs), pension pots, or savings to an account with the same bank (including pots or spaces). These payments may still be seen as positive by lenders, as they make their own calculations.

Employment: Your employment status can impact your likelihood of being accepted for credit, as lenders like to see stable sources of income. This indicates you’re more likely to keep up with repayments.

Buy now pay later activity: Buy now pay later (BNPL) is a form of credit that lenders may consider when assessing an application. If you use this regularly, this could indicate to lenders that you may not be able to make payments for other forms of credit.

Gambling activity: If you don’t gamble, lenders may see you as more financially stable. If you do gamble, keeping your monthly spend on this low can help minimise impact on future credit applications. The more you spend, the less sure that lenders will be that you can pay them back. If you’d like to read more about gambling on affordability insights and where to find support, click here.

Unfortunately, at the moment we can’t show you how individual transactions are being categorised by Bud, our open banking partner.

Please note, your affordability insights are only visible to you — they aren’t shared directly with lenders. However, a lender may request your bank account data if you apply for credit.

Our connected bank account features, Monitor and affordability insights, do not affect your credit score and are not added to your report, nor do they affect your Borrowing Power.