Reimagining lending with Experian

Today marks a major landmark for Finicity, and frankly for the lending marketplace.  Today we announced a solution partnership with Experian, the world’s largest credit bureau and a notable market innovator, to reimagine the lending experience through digital transformation.

We live in a time of incredible change, and that change is occurring at a pace never before seen.  And it’s largely driven by the technological leaps we’ve recently experienced.  Cloud.  Mobility.  Big data.  With these advancements we’ve experienced dramatic shifts in how we shop, travel, consume entertainment, and even order pizza.  And yet, the lending space hasn’t experienced quite the same transformation.  Until now.

Finicity has long been in the business of providing financial insights through state-of-the-art aggregation of financial transactions and records. Now we’re applying that know-how to the credit decisioning process, starting with verification of assets and income.  This verification process has remained virtually unchanged for decades.  It’s essentially a paper chase.  Borrowers still have to track down verification of income and assets by compiling a series of financial statements and pay stubs.  I’m pretty sure my parents had to do the same when they bought their first house.

Together with Experian, we will provide a digital experience, integrated into the loan process.  For borrowers, they are now able to harness the power of data by simply permissioning access to transactions in the accounts of their choosing. There’s no more looking for statements, downloading, printing, emailing, scanning, calling, etc.  For lenders, the process is faster, efficient and more accurate.

Becoming more efficient doesn’t only save time, it saves money too. This is a serious consideration for lenders, as the cost of loan origination is rising. According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, it jumped from $5,779 in 2013 to $7,845 in 2016. Meanwhile, the net income per loan dropped from $1,772 to $825

Another advantage for lenders? Finicity is currently piloting its asset verification report solution with Fannie Mae as a final step toward receiving Day 1 CertaintyTM report supplier approval. Fannie Mae’s new Day 1 Certainty initiative is a landmark advancement within mortgage lending in which lenders can validate loan application data upfront. The benefits include freedom from representations and warranties, more efficient risk management and a streamlined process.

Our relationship with Experian is really a series of firsts.  We are the first core aggregator to work with a major credit bureau to deliver such solutions and to pilot with Fannie Mae to become an eligible asset verification report supplier for the DU® validation service, part of Fannie Mae’s Day 1 Certainty offerings.  Experian is the first credit bureau digitizing the loan asset and income verification steps of the underwriting process for consumers and lenders – delivered through their Decisioning as a Service platform.

And yet, while there are many firsts, we don’t expect this to be the last you hear from us.  The ability for consumers to use their transaction data and financial records to benefit in the lending process is just beginning.  As we move forward the power of data will, we believe, enhance credit inclusion and improve the financial well being of millions.

Again, we are very excited to work with Experian to meaningfully innovate an industry and empower individuals.