When a credit reporting provider describes itself as “full-service,” you may assume it can handle most of your credit reporting and verification needs. But if you don’t do your due diligence, you may discover that it only offers tri-merge credit reports, forcing you to find other vendors for:
- Verifications of income and employment
- Undisclosed debt monitoring
- Property valuations
- Fraud and identity verifications
- Tax transcripts
Since “full-service” doesn’t have a regulated definition, the term doesn’t guarantee a specific range of products or capabilities. That’s why it’s essential to understand exactly what a provider offers before partnering with them.
So how can you find a credit provider that’s truly full service? Below, we break down what “full-service” means and how to evaluate prospective credit providers to ensure you receive the level of support and service your mortgage lending business requires.
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Key Takeaways
- “Full-service” doesn’t have a regulated definition, so some providers may use the term even when their capabilities are limited to credit reporting.
- A truly full-service provider should provide a broad suite of credit, verification, fraud prevention, property valuation, monitoring, tax, and cost-management solutions that work within your existing systems.
- By consolidating key services with one full-service provider, you can minimize vendor sprawl, simplify your support experience, and streamline your manual workload.
What Does “Full-Service” Mean From a Mortgage Credit Reporting Provider?
A full-service credit reporting provider should be able to support multiple needs throughout your lending process, rather than simply delivering credit reports.
The definition of “full-service” depends on the specific needs of your lending operation. For example, a community bank originating a modest number of mortgages each year may have different requirements than a nationwide lender processing thousands of applications each month.
Some key services you may want to look for from a full-service credit provider include:
- Credit reports
- Credit supplements
- Rescoring solutions
- Prequalification
- Verification of income and employment (VOI/VOE)
- Undisclosed debt monitoring (UDM)
- Fraud prevention tools
- Tax transcripts
- Property valuations
- Cost-management solutions
- LOS integrations
- Responsive support
Ultimately, a full-service provider should support your needs throughout the lending process so you’re not forced to assemble multiple solutions from various vendors.
Read More: How Many Vendors Does It Really Take to Close a Mortgage?
4 Ways Partial-Service Providers Create Operational Gaps
Working with several specialized vendors isn’t inherently a problem. In some cases, you may benefit from multiple vendor relationships. However, relying on a partial-service credit provider can create operational gaps that add complexity to your lending pipeline, such as:
#1 “Full-Service” That Stops at Core Credit
Some providers use the term “full-service,” even though their capabilities are limited to credit reporting. While these providers may satisfy your core credit reporting needs, they won’t necessarily provide the additional services you require.
If you discover these limitations after implementation, you may need to seek out other vendors to fill the gaps. That’s why it’s important to look beyond the marketing language and evaluate exactly which products and services a credit provider offers during the selection process.
Read More: The Lender’s Guide to Choosing a Mortgage Credit Reporting Partner
#2 Vendor Sprawl
When your credit provider can’t support all of your needs, you may have to rely on other vendors for additional services. For example, you may partner with one provider for credit reports, another for VOE/VOI, another for fraud prevention, and yet another for UDM.
With multiple vendor relationships, your team will need to spend more time reviewing contracts, invoices, support requests, renewal dates, and technology integrations. This added complexity can reduce efficiency across your lending pipeline.
A full-service provider can help reduce this complexity by supporting more of your lending needs in one place. With fewer vendor relationships to manage, your team can spend more time serving borrowers and moving loans toward the finish line.
Read More: The Hidden Cost of Vendor Sprawl in Mortgage Operations
#3 “Full-Service” Support That Still Feels Fragmented
Some credit providers offer a broad product suite but still fall short of providing a truly “full-service” experience. For instance, these providers may:
- Route every customer support request through a generic ticket queue
- Assign you to different support representatives for different products
- Take several days to resolve time-sensitive issues
This fragmented support can create unnecessary delays as your team spends time determining which department owns an issue, repeating the same background information to multiple representatives, and waiting for requests to move through several support channels.
To avoid these delays, evaluate credit providers’ client support as carefully as their product offerings. Ideally, the right provider should match you with a responsive support representative who understands the nuances of your account, workflows, and technology ecosystem.
Read More: The Hidden Cost of Waiting on Your Vendors
#4 Data That Isn’t Integrated Into Your Workflows
Access to more data doesn’t automatically create a more efficient lending process. You also need to consider whether your provider’s solutions can work effectively with your existing technology.
Some signs of poor product integrations include having to:
- Switch between multiple portals
- Manually transfer data between systems
- Re-enter borrower information
A full-service credit provider should facilitate seamless integrations with your existing LOS so your team can access the data and tools they need without unnecessary steps.
Read More: What “Good Service” Actually Looks Like From a Credit Provider
How to Tell if a Credit Provider Is Really Full-Service?
Since the term “full-service” doesn’t come with a standardized checklist, the best way to assess potential credit providers is to create your own. Start by listing out the products and services you want to use throughout the mortgage lifecycle. Next, identify which capabilities you consider essential from a primary credit reporting partner.
Once you have your checklist, you can assess providers by asking them the following questions:
- Which credit reporting and prequalification products do you offer?
- Can you support my VOE/VOI requirements?
- What are your fraud, identity, tax, property, and monitoring solutions?
- Can your products integrate with my LOS?
- How does your support team handle urgent or complex issues?
- Can I take advantage of bundled services?
- Can your product suite scale as my lending business grows?
This approach shifts the conversation away from “Are you full-service?” toward the much more useful question: “Does your definition of full-service match mine?”
Experience Full-Service Credit Reporting With Certified Credit
At Certified Credit, we provide a comprehensive suite of solutions to help you optimize multiple stages of your mortgage lending pipeline. By partnering with us, you’ll gain access to:
- Customizable credit reports: Use our customizable credit reports to efficiently evaluate applicants’ creditworthiness.
- Smart Select: Use Smart Select to cost-effectively filter out applicants who don’t meet your credit score criteria while automatically moving qualified prospects forward in your lending pipeline.
- Automated prequalification: Use Cascade Prequal to automatically evaluate applicants against your custom credit thresholds.
- Credit score improvement tools: Help your borrowers identify potential ways to improve their credit scores and qualify for better loan terms.
- Undisclosed debt monitoring (UDM): Monitor borrowers’ credit activity from their initial application through closing to prevent untimely surprises with Cascade UDM.
- Automated VOE: Verify borrowers’ income and employment using Cascade VOE’s customizable, multi-vendor verification flow.
- Automated valuation models (AVMs): Access automated property valuation data to support faster, more informed lending decisions.
- Flex ID: Use Flex ID to verify borrowers’ identities and identify potential fraud risks before they become larger issues.
- Flood zone determinations: Determine a property’s flood zone status and identify potential flood insurance requirements early in the lending process.
- Tax Wallet: Retrieve borrower tax transcripts directly from the IRS and gain access to multiple years of tax data without repeated authorizations.
- Cost optimization: Work with Certified Credit’s workflow optimization experts to uncover cost-saving opportunities.
Our full-service approach extends beyond our comprehensive product suite. We also offer award-winning client support, answering over 90% of customer support calls within 30 seconds, as well as seamless integrations with many leading LOS platforms.
Ready to experience full-service credit reporting? Reach out to Certified Credit today.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does “full-service” mean from a mortgage credit reporting provider?
A full-service mortgage credit provider offers more than core credit reports. It should provide a broad range of products and services that can support several stages of your lending pipeline.
What belongs in a full-service mortgage verification suite?
The right suite of solutions varies by lender. Depending on your needs, you may want a provider that offers credit reports, VOE, VOI, fraud and identity verifications, tax transcripts, property valuations, UDM, seamless integrations, and responsive customer service.
Is tri-merge credit reporting the same as full-service?
No. While tri-merge credit reports are important, a credit provider that offers these reports may still require you to look elsewhere for verifications, fraud prevention, property valuations, monitoring, and other mortgage lending services.
How can I tell if a mortgage credit provider is really full-service?
The best way to determine whether a credit provider meets your definition of “full-service” is to identify the products, integrations, and support you need and evaluate prospective providers against your requirements.
What are the risks of using a partial-service credit provider?
A partial-service credit provider may require you to work with several other vendors, increasing the number of systems, contracts, invoices, handoffs, and support relationships your team has to manage.
