Brokers to pilot new tech in ‘industry-first’ agreement

The collaboration between LMG and Equifax will allow brokers to request automated employment income reports directly from MyCRM.

By integrating Equifax Verification Service with LMG’s MyCRM platform, brokers will be able to streamline the income verification process, save time, and ensure a more secure and reliable due diligence process.

The service provides access to employment income data securely and directly from employers and their service providers.

According to the aggregator, it will do this by eliminating the need for clients to provide payslips and employment details, reducing fraud risks and simplifying the verification of employment income, while helping brokers more easily meet compliance obligations and have an additional layer of security and privacy of consumer data.

It will also standardise employment income reports, improving consistency.

The integration process is scheduled to begin shortly, with a pilot expected to be rolled out to brokers in the first quarter of 2024.

LMG said that the ‘game changer’ collaboration is an ‘industry-first’ agreement.

Ewen Stafford, executive director & chief operating officer at LMG, commented: “This agreement with Equifax signifies LMG’s commitment to saving brokers’ time.

“LMG is constantly exploring ways to innovate through technology and automation so brokers can spend more time with their clients and focus on growing their business.”

Dylan John, executive general manager for Equifax Workforce Solutions Australia & NZ, added: “We are thrilled to be able to bring our award-winning Verification Exchange solution to the LMG broker community.

“With this technology, brokers can also enable the lender to access this employment income information, meaning the customer will no longer have to manually provide copies of payslips separately, ultimately resulting in a faster loan approval process and better customer experience”.

The broking industry has been increasingly digitising and streamlining the mortgage process in recent years, with data collection and verification a key burden on a broker’s time. Income verification can also be an area of risk for brokers if they’re unable to identify fraudulent or doctored documents.

The move to open banking has been touted as a solution to reducing income fraud and accelerating the verification process, however, take-up has been slow for the broker channel.

The Mortgage & Finance Association of Australia (MFAA) recently called on the mortgage and finance broking industry to accelerate the transition to the Consumer Data Right (CDR).

[Related: MFAA calls on industry to adopt CDR faster]