What is Open Banking, and is it safe to share data with your mortgage broker?

"Can you connect your bank accounts?" It sounds like a big ask. Before agreeing, you should know who sees the data and how to say no.

Never email or message your banking password or security code to your broker. A genuine Open Banking request sends you to your bank to confirm who you are.

The bank's legitimate identity check can use a one-time password. An accredited recipient doesn't get your bank login or password.

If a third-party screen asks for your normal banking password, stop and call your broker on a number you already trust. Ask which collection method is being used. A digital statement service isn't necessarily Open Banking.

If a request turns up out of the blue, don't rely on a phone number inside that message to check it. Our guide to choosing a mortgage broker in Brisbane includes questions about who will handle your application.

A home loan needs evidence behind the figures you declare. Data sharing can cut down statement-gathering and flag regular payments that need explaining.

The Consumer Data Right (CDR) is Australia's system for choosing who gets your data and why. Open Banking is its banking-data service.

NAB can use CDR-certified Open Banking statements to verify your genuine contribution. It also accepts other evidence. Connecting your accounts isn't a requirement at every lender.

It doesn't replace everything. You may still need payslips, tax records, explanations or statements for accounts it can't reach. Ask what it replaces for your lender, whether you're arranging a first home buyer loan or a refinance.

Getting the evidence right matters before relying on pre-approval. The data can help check income, spending, savings and debts, but automated labels still need checking.

Moving money between your accounts isn't new income, and a work reimbursement may need separating from salary.

Your bank sends it through the CDR to an accredited data recipient. A mortgage broker may receive it as a "trusted adviser" rather than being accredited themselves.

You can nominate your broker as a trusted adviser. An accredited recipient or CDR representative needs your consent before passing your data to them.

Unless the adviser is also accredited, CDR protections and safeguards no longer apply once they receive it, though other privacy and professional duties can. Ask how your broker protects what it receives.

Before lodging, we check whether transfers between your own accounts, reimbursements or one-off expenses have been classified sensibly. Tell us about missing accounts and debts. A complete, accurate picture matters more than simply connecting successfully.

Check the consent screen for:

• The service collecting your data and the broker receiving it.
• Which accounts, what information and what purpose.
• Whether it's one-off or ongoing, and for how long.
• How to stop it, and what happens to what's already collected.

The CDR is opt-in. Providers must explain what's shared, who can access it, for how long and how to withdraw.

Yes. You can decline, and you can withdraw consent. Your broker still needs proof of income and spending, so ask what it would accept instead, such as statements supplied another secure way.

To stop sharing:

1. Open the consent or data-sharing controls in the relevant provider's app or website.
2. Find the permission and withdraw it. Check the status changed. Contact the provider if you can't find the control.
3. Tell your broker and agree how to supply any evidence still needed.

Withdrawing stops ongoing sharing through that permission. It doesn't automatically erase every copy or report already supplied.

You can ask the recipient and broker about deletion or de-identification, subject to applicable retention requirements.

Here's a hypothetical example. A buyer shares selected salary and transaction accounts. The spending summary calls a $1,200 transfer "shopping", but it was money moved to their own savings.

They send the matching record and ask for the label to be fixed. They also mention a credit account that wasn't in the shared data. The report gets more useful, but it still needs their explanations and full disclosure of relevant accounts and debts.

Our Brisbane mortgage brokers can explain the evidence needed and the ways to supply it before you consent.

To check an invitation, call 1300 088 065 using the number on our website, not a number in an unexpected message. We can explain the request and discuss another way to supply the evidence.