Blend, a leading provider of cloud banking services, today announced the general availability of functionality providing support for soft credit inquiries in the mortgage prequalification process.

The launch of soft credit functionality comes amid a “massive” increase in costs for lenders requesting hard tri-merge credit reports—reportedly an increase of up to 400% for some lenders, a cost that must be absorbed if a borrower’s application does not advance. With Blend’s soft credit functionality, lenders can expect to save about $50 per file for borrowers at this high-attrition stage of the process. Initial data from Blend shows that lenders who have adopted soft credit into their workflows have saved up to 71% compared to utilizing all hard inquiries.

Consumers also benefit from the utilization of soft credit pulls, as the inquiry will no longer adversely impact borrower credit scores the way hard inquiries do. Additionally, consumers will no longer be subject to “trigger leads”—the sale of a mortgage applicant’s information to data brokers or other mortgage companies—a practice Congress is currently considering prohibiting.

“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.”