The Income tab provides a detailed view of an applicant's income sources, stability, and financial behaviour. This tab combines automated affordability rules with visual analysis tools to help you assess whether an applicant's income is sufficient, stable, and accurately declared.
Income affordability rules
The Income tab displays any income-focused affordability rules that have been triggered based on the Open Banking data. These rules appear at the top of the tab and help identify potential risks related to income verification, stability, and payment behaviour.
Rule outcomes and indicators
The Income tab itself displays an icon reflecting the overall outcome of income-related rules:
Green tick (✓) - Accept: No income affordability rules have been triggered
Amber exclamation mark (!) - Refer: At least one REF rule has been triggered
Red X (✗) - Decline: At least one DEC rule has been triggered
When rules are triggered, they are listed with full context to help you understand the issue and investigate further.
Rules displayed in the Income tab
The following affordability rules relate to income and appear in this tab when triggered:
DEC15 - Bounced payments: Monitors failed Direct Debits and Standing Orders within a configurable period
REF26 - Bounced payments: Identifies a lower threshold of bounced payments that may warrant further investigation
REF24 - Income verification: Flags when average monthly income is significantly lower than the declared income
REF25 - Income stability: Highlights when the most recent month's income is significantly lower than the average
Each triggered rule shows two key pieces of information:
Rule configuration (left-aligned): The specific threshold set for your organisation, e.g., "7 or more bounced payments in the last 12 month(s) (DEC15)"
Actual result (right-aligned): The number of transactions or percentage that triggered the rule, e.g., "120"
For more information about how these rules work and their configuration, see Affordability Rules and Affordability Rules in the Dashboard.
Disposable Income chart
The Disposable Income chart provides a month-by-month view of the applicant's financial position over the Open Banking connection period (typically 12 months, shown in the top right of the chart).
What the chart shows
The chart displays three key metrics:
Total Income (green bars): Monthly income excluding non-standard income (see below)
Total Expenditure (red bars, negative values): Monthly spending excluding unclassified transactions
Net Disposable Income (blue line): The difference between income and expenditure each month
This visualisation makes it easy to see whether the applicant maintains a positive or negative balance each month, and whether their financial position is stable or changing over time.
Understanding the legend
Below the chart, the legend shows average values over the connection period, with percentage indicators showing how the most recent month compares to the average:
Red percentage with down arrow: The value has decreased (e.g., "Net disposable income £419 3.09% ↓")
Green percentage with up arrow: The value has increased
In the example above, net disposable income is down 3.09% in the most recent month compared to the average, total income is down 0.35%, and total expenditure is down 0.07%.
Interactive features
The chart includes several interactive features to help you analyse the data:
Hover over bars: View exact values for income, expenditure, and net disposable income for any month (e.g., "January 2026: Total income £2,040, Total Expenditure -£2,917, Net Disposable income -£877")
Hover over percentages: See the tooltip "Trend: most recent month vs average"
Click legend items: Hide or show specific metrics by clicking on the legend entries. This lets you focus on particular elements—for example, clicking "Total Expenditure" will remove the red bars from the chart
Click again to restore: Click the crossed-out legend item to add it back to the chart
Non-standard income
Not all credits to an account represent regular, reliable income. Non-standard income includes one-off or irregular transactions that should not inform affordability calculations.
What counts as non-standard income?
Non-standard income includes:
Bounced payments (refunded failed payments)
Gambling income (winnings)
Refunds
Savings withdrawals
Loan disbursements (transfers in once a loan has been agreed)
While these transactions are credits to the account, they are not compensation for labour or regular benefit income. They are excluded from the Disposable Income chart to ensure affordability assessments focus on stable, recurring income sources.
For a more detailed explanation of how transactions are categorised, see Transaction Categorisation.
Income Breakdown chart
The Income Breakdown chart shows the applicant's income by category over the connection period, making it easy to see income composition and identify patterns.
Income categories
The chart displays all income categories represented in the data, including:
Standard income: Salary, Pension Income, Pension Credit, Tax Credit, Universal Credit, Child Benefit, Child Maintenance, PIP, and other benefits
Non-standard income: Bounced payments, Gambling income, Refunds, Savings withdrawals, Loan disbursements
Unclassified income: Transactions that haven't yet been categorised or don't clearly fit existing categories
If you identify transactions that need recategorisation, you can manually adjust them. For details, see Understanding Open Banking: Self Categorisation.
Chart controls
The Income Breakdown chart includes two sets of filter controls:
Type filter (All / Standard / Non-standard)
All (default): Shows all income categories
Standard: Shows only regular, recurring income (salary, benefits, pensions)
Non-standard: Shows only irregular income (refunds, gambling, bounced payments, loan disbursements)
Sentiment filter (All / Negative / Neutral / Positive)
All (default): Shows all income categories
Positive: Consistent income sources (salary, pension income, pension credit) and unclassified income
Neutral: Income that may fluctuate or be inconsistent (refunds, job start payments, tax credits, universal credit)
Negative: Income indicating potential affordability or behavioural issues (bounced payments, gambling income)
These controls let you quickly filter to specific types of income without manually toggling individual legend items.
Legend and trends
Like the Disposable Income chart, the Income Breakdown legend shows:
Average income for each category over the connection period
Percentage change: How the current month compares to the average
Red: Decrease from average
Green: Increase from average
Interactive features
The Income Breakdown chart supports the same interactions as the Disposable Income chart:
Hover over bars: See detailed monthly breakdowns by category
Click legend items: Hide or show specific income categories
Use Type and Sentiment controls: Quickly filter to collections of categories
These tools allow you to conduct detailed and robust income assessments, focusing on consistent income or investigating potential problems.
Transactions table
The Transactions table at the bottom of the page provides a complete, searchable record of all income transactions over the connection period.
Table controls
The table includes several controls to help you find and analyse specific transactions:
Date filter
Select a preset time range or create a custom date range:
Last 90 days
Last 180 days
Maximum (full connection period)
Custom range
Category and Merchant filters
Filter transactions by income category or merchant name.
Search box
Search across all columns: date, category, merchant, description, or amount. This makes it easy to locate specific transactions or patterns.
Rows per page
Change the number of rows displayed:
10 (default)
20
50
100
Use the pagination controls to move through the pages.
Sorting and hiding columns
Sort columns: Click any column header to sort in ascending or descending order
Hide columns: Hover over a column header, click the three dots on the right, and select "Hide column". This can be useful if you're working on a smaller screen or want to focus on specific information
Using the Income tab effectively
The Income tab is designed to provide both high-level insights and detailed investigation capabilities:
Start with the rules: Check whether any income affordability rules have been triggered and understand the context
Review the Disposable Income chart: Assess overall financial stability and whether income covers expenditure consistently
Examine the Income Breakdown: Understand income composition using the Type and Sentiment filters to focus on standard income or identify concerns
Investigate in the Transactions table: Drill down into specific transactions, date ranges, or categories as needed
Together, these tools enable thorough, evidence-based income assessment to support fair and informed lending decisions.