Castlight and Equifax launch first real-time mortgage affordability platform

Glasgow-based financial capability company Castlight Financial has formed a new strategic partnership with credit reporting agency Equifax to launch the first real-time affordability platform to support brokers and their clients with mortgage applications.

Castlight, which was set up by chief executive Phil Grady two years ago, has created software that combines bank account data with credit ratings to give a more rounded view of consumers’ suitability for a loan.

It claims the new system will reduce the time it takes to make a mortgage application to as little as ten minutes.

The new technology, they say, will for the first time give consumers the option to let brokers view their credit history, combined with a summarised overview of their spending behaviour.

This level of detail enables brokers to very quickly understand the financial position of both new and existing borrowers.

The information will be provided in the form of an ‘Affordability Passport’ created by the mortgage applicant in a secure and private portal.

Data is gathered in real-time and combined with a historic view of the way the consumer manages their credit. The solution is software as a service (SaaS) and can quickly be integrated into existing origination platforms.

Jake Ranson, banking & financial institutions director at Equifax UK, said: “Working with specialist technology partners from across the industry is a great way to innovate on behalf of both clients and consumers so we are excited to be working with Castlight to deliver something unique to the market. Industry initiatives like Open Banking Standards highlight the financial industry’s commitment to reform itself to help customers have more control over their data and to make it easier for the financial services industry to make use of data on behalf of customers in a variety of helpful and innovative ways. Equifax is fully committed to these developments and is working on a range of solutions to support our broad range of financial services clients.”

Phil Grady, CEO of Castlight, said: “Equifax is a forward thinking organisation committed to delivering robust business insights, and is ideally placed to collaborate on our aim to improve the financial application journey for consumers. This platform significantly reduces the time it takes for the mortgage process to be completed, and provides brokers with a framework to give informed, detailed advice much earlier in the client engagement process.”

Paradigm Mortgage Services will be one of the first distributors of the new platform.

Bob Hunt, CEO added: “Paradigm is clearly excited at the prospect of working with like-minded, innovative firms and Castlight and Equifax certainly fit this description. This tool significantly aids not just the client in understanding their true financial status, and their attractiveness as potential borrowers, but we believe it is able to offer a substantial benefit to the mortgage application process. With the advent of Open Banking and PSD2 we are about to see significant change in the accessibility and availability of data to clients, who can access their information in this type of secure environment. We are particularly pleased to have been chosen as Castlight’s primary distribution partner and we welcome the opportunity to talk to like-minded firms interested in knowing more.”