The UK’s financial services ecosystem is currently in the process of profound transformation. Traditional lending frameworks, characterised by siloed systems, static risk models, and manual processes, are no longer fit for purpose. They’re outdated and ineffective, unable to answer the needs of today’s digital economy. With the growth of embedded finance, real-time data, and rising customer expectations, financial institutions, platforms, and regulators are having to rethink their infrastructure from the ground up.

Initiatives like Open Banking, Making Tax Digital (MTD), and Open Accounting have already laid the groundwork for greater data accessibility, meaning that data is not only available but useable. But with that usability comes greater expectations – both businesses and consumers expect instant decisions, seamless experiences, and personalised products. The problem is that the lending infrastructure that should be able to deliver on this promise remains fragmented. Lending decisions are still difficult to make because data is scattered, while processes are duplicated and manual. While lenders, platforms, and regulators are unable to work in unison. The Unified Lending Interface (ULI) is emerging as both a technical solution and the next generation of lending infrastructure in the UK.

What is ULI?

ULI is a standardised interoperability framework that governs the exchange of credit-related data, events, and permissions across lending ecosystems. Unlike a product or single platform, ULI acts as an underlying protocol, a form of modular APIs, data schemas, and event models that make it easier for lenders, platforms, and borrowers to interact in a consistent, secure, and scalable way. The idea being that if data can be standardised and exchanged in real time, credit decisioning and servicing can become significantly more efficient, transparent, and inclusive.

What this looks like in real terms is:

• The use of standardised data models for origination, underwriting, and loan servicing
• Real-time event streaming for repayments, defaults, and restructures
• Cross-lender affordability and exposure checks
• Secure, user-driven consent mechanisms
• Customisable APIs to suit various regulatory and operational contexts
• In-built analytics and reporting tools for compliance and performance

ULI is not yet a formal regulatory term, but its equivalents are already emerging in industry-led pilots and fintech platforms. In my view, its adoption would be the next logical step in the evolution of UK lending.

The Challenges That ULI Could Solve

Despite the rapid uptake of embedded finance, the underlying infrastructure that should power and enable it has begun to fall behind. This disconnect has created multiple pain points that need to be addressed if innovation and effective risk management are to continue.

One major challenge lies in siloed integrations. Many lenders rely on custom-built connections with each distribution partner, which typically results in fragile systems that are difficult to scale and costly to maintain. This is not only inefficient, it makes it harder to respond to changing market demands.

Risk visibility is another concern. As things stand, most lenders assess credit exposure in isolation, which means that a business could have multiple existing loans on different platforms with no aggregated affordability assessment. This creates obvious blind spots, increasing the chances of overextension and missed risk signals.

Borrowers themselves are often unaware of why or how credit decisions are made or how their data is used. This opacity leads to a lack of trust, and can deter people from responsible borrowing. And regulatory friction adds further strain. Many institutions still rely on outdated tools for supervisory reporting, including batch files and CSVs, which are prone to error and inefficiency. This creates compliance burdens and slows down oversight.

Lastly, customer concerns around data sharing presents another barrier. Without clear, user-driven consent frameworks, individuals and businesses are reluctant to share financial data. This not only limits lenders’ ability to personalise offerings but also undermines accurate risk assessment.

The ULI directly addresses these challenges by introducing a common framework for interoperability. It brings much-needed structure to an otherwise fragmented ecosystem, enabling lenders and platforms to work together more efficiently without stifling innovation. It also helps restore trust to all users.

How ULI Works

Rather than acting as a centralised system, ULI operates as a distributed interoperability layer, purpose-built for credit. It works in four general phases:

Standardising loan origination

ULI defines a shared schema for different credit products, whether that’s long-term loans, merchant cash advances, invoice financing, or credit lines. This shared language allows platforms and lenders to integrate quickly and consistently. My company has already pioneered this approach, embedding ULI frameworks into platforms that support the entire loan lifecycle, from application to disbursement, collections, and ongoing management.

Affordability and risk aggregation

A critical ULI function is its ability to aggregate exposure across multiple lenders in real time. This enables federated credit checks, prevents borrower overextension, and enhances regulatory oversight. Again, this is something that my company is already doing, with a solution that integrates with ULI to assess a borrower’s receivables, providing granular visibility into cash flow and repayment capacity.

Real-time event notifications

With ULI, you also introduce real-time event notifications that allow key loan events, such as repayments and missed instalments, to be monitored in real-time. This enhanced visibility enables lenders to monitor risk continuously, rather than relying on retrospective data. It also allows for the automation of collections to streamline the response to any such events. Additionally, lenders can make easy adjustments to credit limits based on a borrower’s behaviour and financial performance over time. Essentially, bringing both control and flexibility to lending.

Streamlined application journeys

ULI also helps streamline multi-lender application journeys through a single interface. Our system, for example, allows for automated underwriting, with over 95% of applications decisioned in under 60 seconds. This means that loan applications can be completed in minutes, drastically improving both lender efficiency and borrower experience.

Is The UK Ready For ULI?

Several recent developments suggest that, from a regulatory standpoint, the UK is uniquely positioned to adopt ULI, or similar. First, there’s the government’s Smart Data agenda, which is expanding the legal framework to support cross-sector, user-permissioned data sharing, which is an essential foundation for interoperable lending. While the ongoing development of Open Finance reflects a clear determination to build modular, interconnected financial services systems that mirror the goals of ULI. At the same time, increased regulatory scrutiny of traditional credit bureaus signals a broader appetite for more transparent, real-time credit models that can better serve both lenders and borrowers. As such, ULI wouldn’t replace existing financial infrastructure, it would complement it. Helping to modernise business lending and improve access to credit.

Financial services have become increasingly modular. It’s an approach that answers the evolving needs of today’s digitally driven businesses. A side effect of that is a lack of standardisation and agility. ULI provides a solution to resolve that problem. By empowering lenders with real-time data, simplifying compliance, and creating a more inclusive and transparent borrower experience, it signals a move towards more responsible finance. In my book, that’s the future of lending.