Digital account insight: the new standard in credit assessment

Traditional credit reports remain an indispensable component of B2B credit assessment in leasing, even in 2026. They provide reliable information on a company's history, payment behaviour, economic circumstances and statistical risk of default. For a current credit decision, however, historical and externally collected data alone are not always sufficient. The digital account insight therefore supplements the established Creditreform report with current information from the applicant company's business account.

What is the digital account insight?

The digital account insight is a method for the structured analysis of business account data. To this end, and following explicit consent, the applicant company links one or more business accounts to a regulated account information service. The available transaction and account data are then analysed automatically and converted into features relevant to the decision.

The focus is not on individual transfers but on recurring financial patterns. These include, for example:

• regular incoming payments,
• fluctuations in turnover,
• liquidity reserves,
• recurring charges,
• returned direct debits,
• overdrafts,
• tax payments,
• loan and lease instalments,
• seasonal developments,
• the ratio of incoming to outgoing payments.

Account-based credit assessment thus shows how a company's economic situation is actually developing in its account. It does not merely answer the question of how a company has been assessed externally in the past, but supplements this perspective with current cash flow data.

Distinction from the traditional credit report

A Creditreform business report provides, among other things, core company data, the Creditreform Credit Rating Index, a probability of default, information on payment behaviour and — depending on the report selected — financial figures, balance sheet data and industry information. It thus offers a well-founded assessment of the company and its economic conduct to date.

The digital account insight pursues a different approach. With the account holder's consent, it draws on current account information and analyses how income, expenditure and liquidity have developed within the period under review.

The decisive added value therefore does not arise from an either/or choice, but from combining both sources of information: Creditreform provides the well-founded historical and external view of the company, while the digital account insight supplements it with current account data released by the company. In leasing business in particular, this combination of both data sources can close information gaps without abandoning proven review procedures.

The regulatory basis: PSD2 and account information services

The technical and regulatory basis for the digital account insight is the EU's second Payment Services Directive, PSD2. It created regulated access to online payment accounts for so-called account information services. The Directive expressly provides that payment service users may make use of such services to access their account information.

In Germany, the supervisory requirements are implemented in particular through the Payment Services Supervision Act. Account information services are subject to a registration requirement. BaFin maintains a public register of authorised and registered payment and account information service providers.

Account information service instead of direct bank access

With a properly designed solution, the leasing company itself does not access the applicant's online banking. The account access is established via a regulated account information service.

The applicant company authenticates itself, as a rule, within the environment provided by its bank. The account information service retrieves the released account data via the interfaces provided for this purpose and makes it available for the agreed analysis. The online banking access credentials are therefore never transmitted to the leasing company.

Consent and purpose limitation

The account insight requires the active consent of the company or the person authorised to act on its behalf. Before the account is linked, the following must be transparently disclosed:

• which accounts are being linked,
• which data are processed,
• what purpose the analysis serves,
• which results are transmitted to the leasing company,
• how long the data and analysis results are retained.

For leasing companies this means that the digital account insight must be embedded in a clearly defined application and decision-making process. Blanket or covert access to business account data has no place in a properly conducted procedure.

Strong customer authentication

Access to an online payment account may require strong customer authentication. PSD2 and its associated regulatory technical standards define requirements for secure authentication and communication between the payment service providers involved.

In practice, the account holder confirms access via, for example, a banking app, a TAN procedure or another method supported by the account-holding bank.

The regulatorily sound process is thus compliant by design: consent, authentication, regulated account access and purpose-bound analysis are technically interlinked.

How open banking scoring works

The term open banking scoring is frequently used but requires some explanation. Not every account-based analysis has to culminate in a single score. Particularly for leasing decisions, it can be more useful to provide concrete features and comprehensible rules.

A typical process comprises five steps.

1. Initiation within the leasing application

The account insight is integrated directly into the digital application or as a downstream second-look process. The company receives a clear prompt to link the relevant business account.

2. Selection of the bank and authentication

The applicant selects its account-holding bank and logs in via the bank's designated process. It then confirms the accounts to be released and the access. For supported banks, the connection can be completed within a few minutes.

3. Retrieval of transaction data

Depending on the bank, account model and technical availability, account movements can be analysed for a period of several months. Frequently, a review period of up to twelve months is sought, so as to capture not only a short-term snapshot but also seasonal and recurring patterns. The historical depth actually available may vary depending on the bank and interface.

4. Categorisation and analysis

The transactions are structured, categorised and condensed into relevant metrics. The following features may be particularly relevant for leasing companies:

Cash flow patterns. The analysis shows whether incoming payments occur regularly, how strongly they fluctuate, and whether identifiable seasonal effects exist. A trade business, a retailer and a seasonally dependent service provider may exhibit very different patterns.

Liquidity trend. The account insight can illustrate how the available account balance develops over time. What matters is not only the current balance but also whether liquidity shortfalls occur regularly and how quickly they are resolved.

Returned direct debits and failed payments. Recurring returned direct debits may indicate operational or financial problems. Individual instances, however, should not be assessed in isolation. What matters is frequency, development and context.

Existing financial obligations. Regular loan, financing and lease payments provide indications of a company's ongoing financial burden. Taken together with incoming payments, this makes it possible to assess whether sufficient headroom exists for an additional instalment.

Tax and social security contributions. Regular payments to tax authorities, health insurers or other public bodies can be considered as part of the overall payment picture. Here, too, professional judgement is required.

5. Handover to the decision-making process

The result can be handed over to risk management as a structured report, a traffic-light logic, a rule-based check, or via individual features. Which format is appropriate depends on the credit policy, the level of automation and the specific leasing product concerned.

Traceability is essential: risk management should be able to identify which data features led to which assessment. An unexplainable overall score offers only limited practical value, particularly in borderline cases.

Traditional report and digital account insight compared

The table shows that both methods answer different questions. The Creditreform report assesses the company within its overall economic context. The digital account insight deepens this assessment with current information from the business account.

The second-look use case in leasing

The economically most relevant area of application is the second look. Here, the digital account insight is not necessarily used for every application, but specifically for cases that cannot be approved unambiguously following the traditional review.

Typical second-look cases are:

• young companies with a limited data history,
• companies without sufficiently current published financial figures,
• seasonally fluctuating business models,
• applications just below internal acceptance thresholds,
• contradictory or incomplete documentation,
• companies following an economic restructuring,
• businesses whose current development is not yet fully reflected in historical data.

An initially critical Creditreform result is not thereby ignored or overridden. Rather, it is examined whether current account data provide additional insights.

If the account insight shows stable incoming payments, adequate liquidity reserves and a sustainable existing burden, this can support a manual or rule-based reassessment. If, conversely, the account analysis shows recurring shortfalls, returned direct debits or an increasing burden, it may confirm the initially cautious decision.

The second look is therefore not an instrument for blanket increases in the approval rate. It enables a more differentiated decision on a broader data basis — as described in detail in the article Lowering the rejection rate without increasing risk.

Limitations and prerequisites

The digital account insight provides current and detailed information. Nevertheless, it is not a complete picture of a company's creditworthiness.

Consent is a mandatory prerequisite

Without the consent and active cooperation of the applicant company, no account connection can be established. Leasing companies therefore need a comprehensible process that clearly explains the purpose, scope and benefit of the analysis.

Data quality depends on the account linked

The explanatory power is limited if only a secondary account is linked, if significant turnover runs through other accounts, or if private and business payments are intermingled. For corporate groups, several companies and account connections may also be relevant.

Transaction data require context

A large single payment could be an exceptional order, a shareholder contribution or an internal transfer. A debit could be operationally necessary or economically critical. Automated categories must therefore be plausibility-checked and borderline cases assessed professionally.

No complete substitute for the credit report

The business account does not contain comprehensive information on company structure, powers of representation, shareholdings, public negative records, external payment behaviour or industry-related risks.

The Creditreform report therefore remains the foundational basis of B2B credit assessment. The digital account insight extends this basis with current internal financial data.

In practice: implementation within 90 days

Implementation within around 90 days is achievable if leasing companies clearly define the use case and initially begin with a focused second-look process.

Phase 1: Target picture and credit policy — weeks 1 to 3

First, it is determined for which applications the account insight will be used. At the same time, risk management defines the relevant features and decision criteria. Among the questions to be clarified are:

• Which applications enter the second look?
• Which accounts need to be linked?
• What analysis period is required?
• Which features lead to a positive, negative or manual review?
• Which results are stored?
• Who is permitted to access the results?

Phase 2: Functional and technical integration — weeks 4 to 8

Next, the process is integrated into the application system, credit decision or partner portal. In parallel, the data protection review, permission concept, definition of retention periods and design of the consent process are carried out.

The technical integration should take into account not only account access but also error scenarios. These include unsupported banks, aborted authentications, incomplete data and the linking of an unsuitable account.

Phase 3: Pilot operation and calibration — weeks 9 to 12

The pilot should start with a clearly defined case group. The account insight results are initially compared with the decisions of experienced underwriters and the existing Creditreform information.

The goal is not to develop a fully automated model within a few weeks. First, it must be established which features are actually relevant to decisions and can be interpreted stably within the specific portfolio.

Following the pilot, rules, thresholds and case groups can be adjusted. Only thereafter should a decision be made on broader automation.

Conclusion

The digital account insight extends B2B credit assessment in leasing with a current, transaction-based perspective. It shows how cash flow, liquidity and financial obligations of a company are actually developing in its business account.

Its greatest benefit, however, does not arise as an isolated review procedure. The Creditreform report continues to provide the well-founded historical, structural and external assessment of the company. The account insight supplements it with current financial data released by the applicant.

For small and medium-sized leasing companies, the second-look approach is particularly suitable. It limits the integration effort, concentrates account analysis on relevant borderline cases, and enables more differentiated decisions. This makes it possible to identify sustainable applications that could not be conclusively assessed on the basis of historical information alone — without abandoning the proven standards of risk management.