Experian Introduces Products That Help Lenders Determine Consumers' "Ability to Pay"

Experian (Costa Mesa, Calif.) introduced a suite of "ability to pay" products — Income Insight and Income View — designed to be a core source for determining consumers' ability to pay. Income Insight is designed to support recent legislation by providing an estimate of a borrower's individual income utilizing verified income data and proprietary credit bureau attributes. Income View is a Web-based tax verification service that provides clients with IRS 4506-T processing and prompt access to applicants' verified income via the Internal Revenue Service.

"With a number of new or proposed lending regulations, there is an increasing emphasis being placed on more diligent and more informed lending," said Steven Wagner, president of Experian Consumer Information Services, in a press release. "Our new 'ability to pay' products are an important part of this continuously changing picture. The capability to accurately estimate or verify a borrower's income provides a key insight into that consumer's ability to repay a loan."

According to Experian, key features and benefits of Income Insight include: Compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA); improved risk management efforts by including modeled debt-to-income ratios; the ability to accurately segment defaulted borrowers to maximize collection processes; and availability of streamlined results online or in batch.

Key benefits of Income View, according to Experian, include: Income tax return summaries and detailed transcripts for individuals and businesses, including IRS 1040, W-2, 1099 and 1065; secure delivery of IRS transcripts within 24 to 48 hours; identification of potential fraud through discrepancies in stated income, Social Security number, filing status, name or address; and no rush fees.

Katherine Burger is Editorial Director of Bank Systems & Technology and Insurance & Technology, members of UBM TechWeb's InformationWeek Financial Services. She assumed leadership of Bank Systems & Technology in 2003 and of Insurance & Technology in 1991. In addition to ... View Full Bio