By Meghan Hall
Technology certainly has its benefits–and its risks. As both the world and real estate have become increasingly digitized, conversations around data security and the security of online information has become paramount. The Registry spoke with Elan Amir, CEO of MeasureOne, which utilizes consumer-permissioned data to streamline property deals.
Can you tell me a little bit about MeasureOne; How did the company get its start, and what benefits can it bring to the world of real estate?
Since 2015, MeasureOne has been transforming the way businesses access and leverage consumer data for growth and innovation. MeasureOne’s consumer-permissioned data platform benefits the real estate industry in multiple ways, specifically the efficacy of automated processes when it comes to mortgages. For example, lenders are able to provide a streamlined process for pulling data such as pay stubs, employment information, etc. during the mortgage approval processes. Additionally, borrowers are able to control their data, how it’s being used and with whom it’s being shared.
For our readers who are unaware, what does it mean to utilize “Consumer-Permissioned data”? As the world becomes increasingly digitized, why is this important?
Consumer-permissioned data unlocks data that lives within a consumer’s online credentialed account with the direct permission of the consumer. In a CPD transaction, a consumer elects to provide access to their personal account for the purpose of sharing data present in that account with a requesting business for a valuable exchange.
One of the earliest and most widely adopted examples of CPD is access to bank account information within payment applications such as Venmo and Paypal. Other examples, as mentioned before, include the sharing of income data or employment data to secure a mortgage loan. A consumer-permissioned data transaction drives an efficient and streamlined data exchange process, where the consumer shares their data knowing and understanding who it is being shared with and for what purpose. It places the consumer at the center of a data transaction giving them back control over their personal information.
The importance of consumer-permissioned data is at an all time high following recent revelations in data privacy. Additionally, the need for data collection spans across all industries, not only finance. When data is being permissioned directly from a consumer’s source account, the data is of the best quality, it is real-time, up-to-date, empowering businesses the ability to make better decisions and improve consumer outcomes. By bringing consumers into the transaction, consumer-permissioned data squashes concerns around privacy and allows for safe and quick digital exchanges.
In the world of real estate, how can MeasureOne’s solutions benefit users? Can you highlight an example or two of how the platform saved users time/money/etc.?
MeasureOne’s solutions benefit both the lender and the prospective homebuyer in a mortgage transaction, specifically with our employment and income verification capabilities. This solution gives real estate lenders a more efficient way to verify income, employment, and assets of a borrower in real-time and without the paperwork. By utilizing the platform, lenders are able to streamline and speed-up their current mortgage underwriting process.
MeasureOne also states on its website that it offers “broader data access” than other market solutions. What data points does MeasureOne have access to that allows the platform to be competitive in the market?
MeasureOne currently has over 6,000 data sources spanning multiple geographies, industries and institutions. Its industry-agnostic approach to consumer-permissioned data enables the expansion of new data sources, giving businesses a future-proof solution that can scale with growing needs of any business. We are able to verify consumer data like employment, income, enrollment status and transcript data. Any data that lives in a consumer’s account is data that MeasureOne can help a business leverage, which is something that industry-specific competitors aren’t able to scale to provide.
Does MeasureOne hope to expand its services to other applications in the real estate industry? If so, what areas of the industry is the firm targeting next and why?
Almost all consumer data is online in some form or another. As the industry continues its digital transformation, we are building the infrastructure that will allow consumers to access and share applicable data with lenders. Think of things that take time to verify, but are extremely important for potential homebuyers like Veteran status, employment in fields like teaching or nursing, or student status, all of which may qualify borrowers for special rates. Additionally, with a digitized process to provide instant access to a consumer’s account, the need for manual paperwork review is all but eliminated, further streamlining the underwriting process and potentially shortening time to close. Verification of income and employment is truly just the tip of the iceberg. Any data required to close a mortgage transaction that lives in a consumer’s online account is data we can make accessible with the consumer’s permission – a win-win for lenders and borrowers alike.
From your perspective, what roadblocks remain a challenge when it comes to credit decisioning analytics and income verification? How does MeasureOne intend to address these challenges?
The main challenge is how quickly institutions move from the ways they are collecting data to platforms that use consumer-permissioned data. The old process of underwriting and approving loans is not time-efficient or inexpensive. Many solutions offer “automation” but are either cost prohibitive, fail to prioritize consumer privacy, or don’t deliver due to poor user experiences or insufficient market coverage. On top of that, each data need may require a different vendor.
MeasureOne’s API solves these problems through a unique, consumer-permissioned data platform-as-a-service. For lenders and credit decisioning organizations, MeasureOne enables fast and reliable access to any consumer information in an online account including income, employment, education, and much more. For consumers, MeasureOne provides the essential infrastructure to safely share data with businesses and unlock access to credit.
