Consumer Lending: More Than Speed and Convenience

Your consumer borrowers want more than speed and convenience. Those borrowers want to do business with banking and financial services providers that show they know them, digitally or in-person. We also know that they want to know that they are being listened to and that banks will respond with the talent, tools and technology to ensure that their experience is consistent across all channels.

In our previous blog in this three-part series, we discussed how Equifax, with their database The Work Number®, can help credentialed lenders with a permissible purpose tap into more than 604 million employment records received directly from 2.6 million employers to help verify the income and employment of a prospective borrower. In this blog, we are going to discuss other ways that you can continue to trust, but verify, your borrowers and provide them a positive experience, but at the same time minimize risk.

Turn all your consumer data into a positive

When customers give you their personal and business-related information, they expect it to benefit them at the bank. You can expose the full potential of this data for your institution by presenting a 360-degree view of the customer profile. Leverage analytics gathered through relevant information across all channels from credit reports, to core data to be proactive.

Capitalize on self-service

Customer needs are dynamic; a simple transaction request can quickly change the opinion of that consumer toward your institution. That’s why it’s critical to deploy solutions that allow the consumer to self-serve their own information that you can then verify and utilize in the lending process. Consider how you can leverage client portals to gather financials, tax returns, and other documents in a way that makes the consumer feel that they are in charge and that they have complete transparency in the lending process. This will help develop an effective balance of automation and human capabilities to assist with any degree of urgency in your lending process.

Leverage multiple sources of truth

As you examine the credit worthiness of a consumer, take a page from the X-files and know that “The Truth is Out There” and that there is nothing wrong with pulling from multiple sources to get to the bottom of it. That is when leveraging multiple data assets from organizations like Equifax can allow you to not only take advantage of the internal data sets, but also very reliable external data sets and algorithms as well. 

Back to where we started this conversation – trust. It is the basis of banking and like I mentioned in our first blog in this series, it is the license to succeed. To learn more about how Baker Hill or our co-authors in this blog series, Equifax, can help you succeed, reach out to us here.

Author Bio

With more than 25 years of experience in the financial services industry, Mike Horrocks possesses a unique and extensive blend of financial expertise, technology skills, process redesign abilities and solution management experience. Horrocks’ background enables him to create go-to-market strategies for new solutions, help clients convert strategies into revenue generating initiatives and forecast market direction.

As the Vice-President of Product Management at Baker Hill, Horrocks’ responsibilities include the identification and development of new market opportunities in the business of lending, risk management, and analytics for financial institutions. Mike holds a MBA both in International Finance and Venture Technology Management from Indiana University and a B.S in International Finance from Brigham Young University.

Before joining Baker Hill, he held executive positions within several other organizations, including Experian, Profit Technologies, SAIC, Broadway and Seymour (FIS), Zions First National Bank and Zions Data Corporation.

Horrocks is a member of many associations including the Risk Management Association and Bankers Without Borders. In his free time, he enjoys traveling internationally with his wife and five children.