Complications created by the pandemic made the job of underwriting departments even more challenging since that segment of finance companies is tasked with confirming a myriad of details to ensure quality paper flows into portfolios.

To support the collective recovery of businesses and consumers, Experian this week announced its expansion into employer services and the release of its new suite of real-time income and employment verification products: Experian Verify.

Experian acknowledged the COVID-19 pandemic amplified finance companies’ need for deeper insights into a consumer’s financial situation. At the same time, the credit bureau understood that employers, human resources and tax professionals were flooded with record-breaking unemployment claims, stay-at-home orders, income and employment verification fulfillment requests and more.

“We’re committed to helping employers, businesses, lenders, and consumers on the road to recovery from the pandemic and beyond,” said Alex Lintner, group president of Experian Consumer Information Services. “To support this, we’re building two businesses: Experian Employer Services and Verification Solutions.

“These businesses will create meaningful change and provide our clients with competitive options to achieve their verification needs while helping improve access to credit for consumers,” Linter continued in a news release.

Why the tool is launching now

Experian explained that supplementing information from a consumer’s credit report with income and employment status can create greater opportunities for consumers while helping finance companies extend credit responsibly. Experian Verify is designed to improve borrowing experiences and support consumers with limited credit histories by empowering finance companies to verify income and employment status in real-time. 

While verification of income and employment is required in mortgage lending, the practice has become more common across other types of finance since the onset of the pandemic — especially auto.

“The value of verification of income and employment data is evident across the entire credit cycle,” Celent senior banking analyst Craig Focardi said in the Experian news release. “Celent’s perspective on the loan origination market is that borrower situations are changing and all types of retail lenders are competing with each other to attract customers.

“Experian Verify addresses numerous pain points: customer service, cost, and competitive issues facing financial institutions,” Focardi continued.

With Experian Verify, finance companies can create a more complete picture of a consumer’s financial situation quickly and easily.

The products can offer credit card, personal loan, auto finance and mortgage providers as well as tenant screeners and employment screeners with “near-instant access” to tens of millions of active records to verify an applicant’s income and employment status in origination, account review and prequalification decisions.

Powered by Experian’s growing network of payroll and proprietary employer data, the company said finance companies have flexible yet secure access to income and employment records through Experian Verify.

With a consumer’s consent, finance companies can request the information from Experian and an income and employment report can be delivered to providers through an API, online Experian dashboard or paired with an Experian credit report. 

Paving the way for industry advancement

Experian highlighted that its recent acquisitions of Corporate Cost Control (CCC), Tax Credit Co. (TCC) and Emptech, as well as its growing network of direct payroll access can deliver “unique and differentiated” employee records into Experian Verify and lay the foundation for the company’s move into employer services. 

With all three entities now under one roof, Experian is trying to unlock their collective strength to provide employers, HR, finance and tax professionals with a one-stop-shop to outsource complex and time-consuming tasks more quickly, cost effectively and securely. Services provided by Experian include:

— Employment and income verification

— Electronic I-9 verification management

— Work Opportunity Tax Credits (WOTC) management

— Unemployment claims management

— Other tax credits and incentives

“As we begin to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and employers are reopening their doors, we’re confident we have assembled the best-of-the-best to help employers overcome their toughest challenges,” said Michele Bodda, president of Experian Mortgage, Employer Services and Verification Solutions.

“We’re committed to leveraging our combined capabilities and focus on high-touch customer service to deliver secure, scalable and transparent services to employers,” Bodda went on to say.

For more information on Experian Verify, visit www.experian.com/verify. To learn more about Experian’s Employer Services business, visit www.experian.com/employer-services.