For decades, the financial relationship between a tenant and their property has been entirely transactional, one-sided, and in extreme cases, exploitative. Renters across the UK, particularly in hyper-competitive markets like London, routinely part with 30%, 40%, or even 50% of their hard-earned monthly income. It is, by a wide margin, the single largest monthly outgoing for most people. Yet, when the payment clears, the renter receives nothing in return but thirty more days of shelter. No financial track record is built and no progress is made toward their broader financial goals.
This imbalance has been tolerated for far too long. While homeowners watch their mortgage payments steadily construct equity and fortify their credit files, renters paying the exact same amount, or more, have remained financially invisible to mainstream underwriting systems.
This is why our newly announced collaboration with Rently Solutions, trading as Brick Rewards, is a massive milestone. By embedding Moneyhub’s Open Banking and advanced Categorisation and Enrichment infrastructure directly into the Brick Rewards app, we are helping to shift the power dynamic of the rental market. We are supporting Brick Rewards as they turn a historically passive expense into an automated engine for financial growth.
Overcoming the structural bias against tenants
The launch of this release of the Brick Rewards app comes at a crucial time. As the Renters’ Rights Act continues to reshape the UK’s private rental market, the broader conversation has rightfully expanded past basic legal protections to look at the long-term financial wellbeing of tenants.
To date, traditional credit-scoring mechanisms have suffered from a severe structural bias. If an individual takes out a high-interest credit card or a subprime personal loan, their on-time repayments are meticulously tracked and rewarded with an improved credit score. Yet, if that same individual pays £1,500 in rent like clockwork, every month for five years, it may not even register on their credit profile. They are often penalised with thin-file designations because they choose to rent rather than buy.
Through the Brick Rewards premium feature, which automatically reports verified rent payments to credit bureau Experian, we are dismantling this wall. By utilising Open Banking to identify and validate that monthly rent payment, we allow tenants to build a robust financial identity based on their actual, real-world consistency. They are finally receiving the credit score they have rightfully earned.
The power of frictionless data categorisation
The real magic of what Josh Pavis and his team at Brick Rewards have built lies in its absolute simplicity. Consumers are entirely exhausted by overly complex financial apps that require manual receipt uploads, constant budgeting categorisation, or specific card linkages. If a financial wellbeing tool requires heavy administrative maintenance, engagement will inevitably plummet.
This is precisely where Moneyhub’s intelligence layer steps in. Our AI-driven Categorisation and Enrichment Engine works entirely in the background. It securely detects the exact moment rent is paid and instantly identifies eligible spending at participating local businesses.
The renter doesn’t have to change their behaviour, swap their debit card, or upload a bank statement. The technology cleans and matches the raw transaction data seamlessly. Short-term rewards, gift cards, and long-term credit building happen entirely in the background with zero administrative friction. It humanises the data, shifting the technology away from abstract API lines into a tool that brings immediate joy and relief to an anxious consumer base navigating a prolonged cost-of-living crisis.
What the wider industry must learn
The wider financial services sector has a habit of treating open data and initiatives like Consumer Duty as defensive compliance exercises. Firms look at data aggregation and think about what boxes they need to tick to satisfy the regulator or avoid a penalty.
The Brick Rewards blueprint proves that the exact same data infrastructure required for compliance is actually the ultimate catalyst for commercial innovation. The firms that will dominate the next decade of financial services are those that stop treating data as a regulatory chore and start treating it as the building block for hyper-personalised, value-driven customer experiences.
When you possess the capability to accurately understand transaction data, you can build solutions that solve real life. You can look at a consumer’s cash flow, accurately assess their true affordability, reward their financial fidelity, and proactively guide them toward better financial outcomes.
Building for real life
Open Banking is no longer just a technical pipeline for moving information or funds from point A to point B. It is a mechanism for social mobility and financial equity.
The whole team at Moneyhub is incredibly proud to back Brick Rewards as they expand across London and prepare for a nationwide rollout later this year. The future of the UK housing market requires a financial ecosystem that respects, rewards, and empowers the tenant. By unlocking the value hidden inside everyday transaction data, we aren’t just helping people manage their rent, we are helping millions of renters build the foundation to thrive.
About David Firth
David Firth is a pensions, wealth and affordability expert with 17 years of experience in Product. He played an important role in PSD2 and the UK’s Open Banking initiative from its conception, helping heavily regulated firms to adopt cutting edge technologies in record-time. As Product Director, gifting this flexibility and freedom to financial institutions is what David enjoys most about his role. Outside of the workplace, David is an escape room veteran, with a 100% escape record from over 60 rooms.
share
