Blend Labs announced a new soft credit pull for the mortgage prequalification process.
Blend says the move is a response to an increase in the cost for lenders requesting hard tri-merge credit reports. FICO and the national credit bureaus have raised prices for credit reports, saying the “vast majority” of mortgage lenders would see price increases anywhere from 10% to 400%.
With its soft credit functionality, customers save up to 71% compared to all hard inquiries, according to initial data from Blend users.
Soft credit pulls do not negatively affect credit scores. Consumers’ data will be safe from sale to data brokers or other mortgage companies as “trigger leads.”
“With our new soft credit feature, we’re excited to provide a capability that so many of our customers have been asking for,” said Nima Ghamsari, Head of Blend.
“The cost savings for lenders and increased protection for borrowers is a win-win for the mortgage industry, and we are proud to be leading the charge in implementing these innovations.”
The new feature comes on the heels of bad news for Blend, which was recently almost delisted from the NYSE because its average closing stock price was less than $1 per share over a consecutive 30 trading-day period.
It has six months to “cure” the defect and get above that price. The company intends to do so.
“We are focused, we have a sense of urgency, and we are making meaningful progress as we execute against our strategy,” a spokesperson told HousingWire.
Investor site Simply Wall St. shows Blend trading at $1.05 but notes the company is “currently unprofitable and not forecast to become profitable over the next three years.”