Underwriting and customer verification can easily be a frustrating process for many companies. Complications such as compliance regulations and fraud often lead to high customer friction and frustration for onboarding teams. It can be difficult to quickly realize which customers to focus on, and even more frustrating to get those across the finish line efficiently.

‍

Often times, underwriters lose deals because of the delay in time in gathering data and documents, and the need to have multiple platforms to use to verify the data. This blog will touch on tools financial services companies can use, what they cost, and how Under can help consolidate this process entirely.

‍

Common Underwriting Challenges

Regulation Compliance

Financial services companies have to manage complex and ever changing regulations. Not meeting these requirements not only puts companies and customers at risk of fraud but can lead to substantial fines from regulators. Many financial service companies struggle to stay consistently compliant with regulations. 

Fraud

There are many potential avenues for fraud to occur in the underwriting process. First, there is the potential for fraudsters to register fake accounts in order to defraud financial service companies. There is also the risk of customer data being accessed by fraudsters when companies do not properly secure data during the underwriting process. 

Documentation

Underwriting, especially for financial services, involves a small mountain of paperwork. This has been a huge challenge for finance companies that have had to collect extensive amounts of physical paperwork in the past. Slow exchange of paperwork is a source of a ton of friction in underwriting dramatically decreases the quality of customer experience.

‍

Underwriting Tools with Under

Fortunately, numerous underwriting tools have been developed that dramatically improve underwriting. Tools that allow companies to verify customer information, business information, bank information, and run credit checks have helped improve this process. You can access many useful tools with Under that can completely change your onboarding and underwriting process. Below are some the options included in our platform that can be a game changer for your company and allow your underwriters to focus on approving more customers.

Middesk 

With Middesk, it is straightforward to verify a business. This enables you to quickly confirm a business identity before onboarding a client. Middesk provides a holistic view of a business from business address to TIN verification. Additionally, Middesk connects directly to various government agencies, such as municipal agencies and industry regulatory bodies, to ensure that a business is legal and legitimate. 

Middesk's service is offered in three distinct plans. TIN Match only ensures that the business's tax ID number is legitimate. The Qualify plan includes features such as address and business verification. The Verify plan provides your business with all the tools you need to conduct a complete and compliant Know Your Business check. 

‍

Ekata

Ekata is a helpful identity verification tool that utilizes various information databases. This allows you to verify a potential customer's identity with information such as utility records and credit bureau data. These features are geared towards preventing companies from unintentionally onboarding fake accounts that are hotbeds of fraud. Ekata also provides helpful risk assessments using scalable machine learning-based tools, allowing a company to assess a potential client's risk confidently. 

Ekata's solutions can be broken down into several different types. These include Account Opening API, Transaction Risk API, Address Risk API, and Phone Intelligence API. Together, these help companies be proactive when combatting fraud. 

‍

Plaid

Plaid is another essential component of the underwriting and onboarding process. It has become a go-to tool for companies across North America and Europe. Plaid enables companies to integrate their API-enabled authentication methods seamlessly. Additionally, Plaid makes providing customers with a seamless onboarding experience easy. It gives companies the ability to conduct ACH risk and KYC assessments. 

Plaid has three different options for their service: free, pay-as-you-go, and custom plans. With the free plan, you get unlimited test credentials and an opportunity to see if Plaid makes sense for you. The pay-as-you-go plan requires no monthly minimum and provides more useful features. The custom plan enables you to have the full suite of features, such as integration assistance and account management. 

‍

iSoftpull 

One helpful practice with onboarding and underwriting a potential customer is conducting a soft pull of their credit history. Fortunately, iSoftpull makes this incredibly easy by providing complete credit reports and FICO scores of potential customers. This kind of data enables companies to thoroughly assess their risk when onboarding customers without adding extra layers of friction. 

And with Under iSoftpull is integrated with our underwriting system allowing you to leverage credit score checks quickly. 

With iSoftpull, there are several pricing options available. These include start-ups, professionals, small businesses, and enterprises. These subscription options range from $99 a month to $399. Like many other subscription models, the more expensive options provide the most features. Additionally, these plans include a per-report fee ranging from $3.49 to $4.49 per report. 

‍

IDology

Identity verification is the core of IDology and plays a vital role in Under's underwriting system. IDology leverages ExpectID, which searches through thousands of databases to find public records that enable multi-layer customer identity verification. This enables companies to provide the necessary verification for compliance regulation. IDology's data also allows companies to make informed risk assessments of their customers. IDology works with either individuals or businesses, allowing companies to implement KYC or KYB seamlessly. 

‍

LexisNexis

LexisNexis specializes in risk management solutions, a valuable part of the underwriting process. With Under, you access LexisNexis solutions, such as investigative tools, to uncover potential threats to your business. Your company can also implement proactive analysis so you can tackle potential regulation compliance issues before they become costly. Unsurprisingly, various businesses, from law firms to financial service companies, use the many valuable features of LexisNexis. 

LexisNexis offers dozens of products for financial service companies to leverage for onboarding. From individual address verification services to flagging risky users during the application, there are many LexisNexis products to choose from to aid your underwriting process. 

‍

Twilio

One of the most frustrating components of the onboarding process is the back and forth with customers. Twilio is an excellent tool you can access with Under that dramatically improves customer communication. Any financial services company can securely communicate with customers throughout the underwriting process. This allows companies to communicate with customers quickly and provide a faster and more convenient experience. 

Twilio offers two payment options for its verification service: per verification and custom plans. With the per verification option, Twilio charges $0.05 per successful verification. Their custom plan is better for companies that need to conduct a higher volume of verifications. 

‍

Advantage of Under

Fortunately, your company can access all of these incredible underwriting tools with Under. These tools allow you to address the underwriting challenges efficiently, and most importantly, with Under, you can utilize them all in one integrated system. This allows for a smoother workflow for your onboarding team and is more cost-efficient than purchasing each tool individually. 

Additionally, Under can easily save your company money by giving you access to tools from all seven companies without creating seven individual accounts that cost more. We offer three plans: Starter for $249 a month, Pro for $999 a month, and Flex, which has custom pricing based on your business needs. With Under you get one stop shopping for all your underwriting and onboarding needs rather than navigating several companies and dozens of different plans. 

Each of our plans gives you access to features from the earlier companies in one system with one login. This will save you more money in the long term and enable your company to simplify your underwriting process. Contact our team here to learn more about Under, which can save you time and money and provide you with the best underwriting tools.