Blend to launch income verification product

After nearly a year in development, Blend Labs took another step toward making the financial services sector more efficient in underwriting loans.

The fintech — which went public on July 16 — announced it will launch its income verification product on Oct. 27. The new offering will be released solely through the company’s mortgage and consumer banking suite until it’s made available for customer tech stack integration. The program will leverage multiple data providers to verify income at a “flip of a switch,” according to Nima Ghamsari, co-founder and head of Blend.

“Instead of manually entering information, consumers can simply validate the accuracy of income data that’s pulled directly from verified sources,” Ghamsari said in a statement to NMN. “Because of the different data sources Blend brings together, people with gig economy jobs or self-employed income will have a much easier time applying for mortgages, other loans, and deposit accounts.”

Income verification technology is gaining emphasis as the share of consumers with multiple salary streams grows in the expanding gig economy. Gig workers accounted for about 64.8 million civilians or 40.3% of the U.S. labor force in 2020, and those numbers are expected to jump to 86.5 million and 50.9% by 2027, according to data provider Statista.

The instant verification would cut down on the time it takes lenders to make loan underwriting decisions and cut out data entry. It would also reduce the documentation prospective borrowers would need to produce and submit for their mortgage applications.

“With the rise in gig economy and non-traditional work, income verification can be an obstacle for many consumers to gain access to financial services despite a strong ability to repay loans,” Ghamsari said in a press release.