Reporting to the credit bureaus made easy

We all know credit reports are crucial for the financing industry. Accurate credit reports and credit information help lenders, banks and other credit providers assess the risk of the products they extend, and warn them about borrowers with a track record of taking out debt they don’t repay. It helps the creditor match their borrowers with appropriate terms, and consequently gives those borrowers an incentive to make their loan payments in full and on time. It doesn’t directly benefit any lender when they report credit—it benefits all lenders.

But considering the importance of reporting to the credit bureaus, it's surprising how difficult it can be. With most systems, you have to manually export your data, and then use a separate software system to convert that data into a Metro 2 file, the only format that the big three bureaus will accept. And once the Metro 2 file is generated, you might have to manually upload it. It’s a long and tedious process, and lenders are stuck doing most of the work themselves.

That’s why LoanPro is introducing a new credit reporting tool for companies on our platform. It streamlines the credit reporting process through automation, while also leveraging our integrated partner, Bloom Credit, to validate that the data in the file is correct. With LoanPro, credit reporting can be totally hassle-free.

Streamline your process with credit reporting automation

On most systems, credit reporting is a lengthy process, but there’s no reason it has to be. The process of how to report credit to the credit bureau (or bureaus) you work with involves several steps—extracting data, reformatting it into the Metro 2 file, and sending it to reporting companies—but many of those steps require no real human skills or decision making.

LoanPro simplifies the process with automation. First, you decide on a reporting cadence, like monthly reporting or quarterly, and then you create a reporting account with whichever credit bureaus you prefer.

On the schedule you chose, the system will automatically query our real-time replicated database, pulling up-to-the-minute data on your customers' payments and credit history. From there, the system reformats that data into a Metro 2 file. Once the file is prepared, LoanPro automatically sends it to Bloom for validation, and Bloom can send it to whichever of the major credit bureaus you choose—Experian, Equifax, TransUnion, or any combination. It’s that simple.

Ensure accuracy with credit reporting data validation

Like we said before, the financing industry relies on credit scores and accurate credit history to know how risky a potential borrower is, but those scores are only valuable if the underlying data is free of errors. Passing on incorrect information to the bureaus hurts everyone—other financial institutions can’t accurately predict borrower behavior, borrowers get stuck with low credit scores and poor financing options, and you might end up spending even more in your dispute process after borrowers report errors in their credit report.

LoanPro first checks that the Metro 2 files are formatted correctly. Next, we run a cursory check of the data itself, comparing your credit report against the original data in our real-time database. And then, Bloom compares the data with a broader database of credit information reported in the past. Using this data, they can identify accounts, loans, payments, or other data that borrowers are more likely to dispute.

You can pass the benefits of accurate credit reporting onto your own borrowers, a perfect pairing for any credit-builder program to strengthen customer relationships and loyalty.

Fostering customer loyalty through transparent credit reports

Some borrowers get a little jumpy around the topic of their credit report—and perhaps understandably. The whole process sits outside of their direct control (and even visibility, as they're limited to a single free credit report each year). If they're surprised by a low score, it's not immediately clear whether it's due to their own late payments or a more serious issue, like identity theft or a compromised social security number. And although that annual free credit report will show which accounts contributed to the score, a borrower who finds errors in their report might need to contact everyone from their banks, creditors, and the credit reporting companies themselves before they figure out precisely where the issue lies.

Keep customers engaged with healthy contact

Credit providers can address borrowers' concerns and build long-term loyalty through clear, personalized communication, powered by LoanPro's Communication Suite. From the moment they submit an application, lenders can keep borrowers informed through automated and dynamic messages, sent through email, SMS, or direct mail.

And if you notify borrowers that you'll report their delinquency and other credit information to the three credit bureaus, they'll have an increased incentive to make payments in full and on time. Just make sure that whatever you mail out doesn't misrepresent your actual processes, which would violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA).

Manage disputes without siphoning resources

When a borrower does dispute missed payments or claims that an account is fraudulent, how you handle that request can be the difference between building trust and losing a customer. LoanPro and Bloom give you the tools to manage each request through a streamlined and transparent process, identifying and correcting any errors in a credit report while maintaining healthy contact and communication with the borrower.

And once you find the correct information, you have the flexibility to perform an ad hoc credit report, helping to get the right account data to the bureaus and resolve the borrowers' request.

The right level of control

We anticipate that most clients will want to maximize their operational efficiency through a fully automated process, but we understand wanting to retain more hands-on control of the data as well. These updates were designed with user control in mind. You can choose which features you want to use, and which ones to leave out.

This puts you in control of your credit information and data throughout the entire process, allowing you to add required validations and go through any of your own processes before delivering the report to the credit reporting agencies.

Altogether, LoanPro’s automations empower you to streamline the way you report to the credit bureaus, simultaneously improving your operational efficiency and customer retention with perfect control over your processes.