# Balance Check
source: https://developer.mastercard.com/open-finance-europe/documentation/licensed/insights/balance/index.md

## Overview {#overview}

Balance Check provides real-time bank account balance information from an end user's financial institution through Open Finance account information services.

* Make informed risk or payment decisions with access to balance information
* Improve convenience, efficiency and security with consented access to bank account balances.

The data returned as part of this solution includes:

* Available balance - the amount of money that the account holder can spend or withdraw immediately.
* Booked balance - the total amount of money in the account which might include funds from checks that have not cleared yet and pending withdrawals/payments

The benefits of using the Balance Check service includes:

* **Improve payment success**: Increase collection rates for regular payments, or manage risk at onboarding by ensuring sufficient funds are available.
* **Streamline affordability assessments**: Access to booked and available balance in real-time for affordability.

This solution can be offered in combination with the [Account Owner Verification](https://developer.mastercard.com/open-finance-europe/documentation/licensed/insights/account-owner/index.md) service.

## Participants and Interactions {#participants-and-interactions}

Insights provides actionable data retrieved Open Finance connectivity through a single platform that supports multiple products including Balance Check.
![](https://static.developer.mastercard.com/content/open-finance-europe/uploads/insights/participants-interactions-bc.png)

|      Participant      |                                                                 Description                                                                  |                                       Example                                       |
|-----------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| **Consumer**          | Consumer provides consent to share account information. This is also defined as the payment service user "PSU".                              | Bank account holder                                                                 |
| **Business**          | Business provides consent to share account information. This is also defined as the payment service user "PSU".                              | Business bank account holder                                                        |
| **Bank**              | The financial institution where the consumer holds an account. This is also defined as the Account Service Payment Service Provider "ASPSP". | Retail banking provider Business banking provider                                   |
| **Integrator**        | Initiates request for Balance Check through the Insights API endpoint.                                                                       | Merchants PSPs Technical Service Provider Payment Facilitator Financial Institution |
| **Insights Platform** | Serves as an integration point for integrators to offer Insights services. Returns the account balance.                                      | Mastercard                                                                          |

## How it works {#how-it-works}

Diagram bc-enterprise-how-it-works

**Detailed steps are explained below:**

1. End user initiates the service with the integrator. For example, a consumer sets up a direct debit mandate with a business during onboarding.

2. Integrator collects the consent from the end user with data parameters defined according to which product they would like to consume.

3. End user gives consent to the Integrator to connect to their bank. Consent is managed by the Integrator.

4. Integrator submits the Insights job through the Insights endpoint and specifies which services they would like (e.g. Account_Balance).

5. Mastercard validates the client credentials.

6. Mastercard returns the Connect URL which is then presented to the end user on the client's site.

7. The connectURL is presented to the end user who can use it to authorise access to their account. (This URL will either direct the End User to the Bank Selection screen or ASPSP depending on whether the Client has passed a Provider ID to Insights).

8. Mastercard requests and receives the account information from the bank.

9. Integrator requests the Insight results.

10. Mastercard returns the account identifier, available and booked balance.

11. The Client can use the results to make a decision that relates to the end user.

Note: Note The providerID field is optional in the Submit Insights Request. If the Client provides this field, the PSU is taken straight to bank SCA at the ASPSP. If the Client does not provide this field, the PSU is taken to Mastercard's bank selector screen before bank SCA.

## User journey {#user-journey}

When the end user is redirected to their bank for SCA, we will facilitate this through [Supervised login.](https://developer.mastercard.com/open-finance-europe/documentation/unlicensed/aiia-data/connect/one-time-flow/index.md). The user will be redirected to an authentication URL in a browser. Here, they will choose their provider (bank or other financial institution) and enter their credentials. A [Supervised login](https://developer.mastercard.com/open-finance-europe/documentation/unlicensed/aiia-data/connect/one-time-flow/index.md). flow consist of a series of steps that the user needs to perform. A typical example is to enter a username and password as a first step, and a one-time password as a second step.

Some providers support multiple login methods. In this way, these providers allow the user to choose between using an authentication app or merely logging in with a username and a password. Therefore, there will be different supervised login flows.
Note: For Insights, integrators do not need to make a separate call for supervised login. Instead, the `connectURL` (sometimes referred to as `authURL`) will be provided once the Submit Insights Request is made.

## Next steps {#next-steps}

Refer to the [API References](https://developer.mastercard.com/open-finance-europe/documentation/licensed/insights/api-references/index.md) to learn more about the API.

### Getting help {#getting-help}

Complete the [Contact Us](https://openbankingeu.mastercard.com/contact-us) form if you have any questions or require assistance.