I have heard that when applying for loans, the major 4 banks now have access to each others banking data (with your consent when applying) to prove discretional spending and other loans held in your name - is this true?

Hi PJ,

I don’t believe that this is the case . . . Yet!

At the moment, you provide your consent for the lender to access your credit file and credit history from a reporting agency (usually Equifax)
Some lenders do require bank statements and credit card statements as part of the application and they do use these to verify your disclosed debts and household expenditure. These are only statements that you provide or other accounts held at the same bank.

NAB has begun data sharing and the other 3 will likely come on board from September.
Currently just over one quarter of institutions have started sharing

Comprehensive Credit Reporting will add much more data to your credit file which could be either good or bad for each individual consumer
Once all lenders are sharing data, information about credit limits and 2 years repayment history will be on your file.

I hope that helps a little?

Regards
Scott

Sadly I think we will never really know the real answer