PRMG Increases Application Conversions and Reduces Costs with Blend’s Soft Credit Functionality

Blend, a leading provider of cloud banking services, announced today that Paramount Residential Mortgage Group (PRMG) has seen a substantial increase in application conversions and significant cost savings after implementing Blend, which is the first digital banking platform to support soft credit pulls in the mortgage pre-qualification process.

PRMG has been a Blend customer for more than four years and was one of the first to pilot its soft credit solution with Automated Underwriting System (AUS) functionality in July 2022. The Corona, California-based lender previously relied on tri-merge hard credit pulls to pre-qualify borrowers, which can cost lenders upwards of $50 per credit file compared to nearly half the cost for a soft credit file. In addition, hard credit pulls may negatively impact the borrower’s credit score and can also result in the sale of trigger leads to data brokers and competing mortgage companies, adding friction to the borrower experience and impacting a lender’s pipeline.

“Before implementing Blend, our loan officers were spending considerable time and resources using tri-merge hard credit pulls early in the origination process. If the borrower decided not to move forward, we were forced to absorb the cost of that hard credit pull as a loss,” said Kevin Peranio, Chief Lending Officer at PRMG. “With Blend’s soft credit solution, you’re defending your time, your money, your borrower’s experience, and your loan pull-through.”

Lenders can expect to save up to 71% in costs after adopting soft credit into their workflows compared to utilizing all hard inquiries. And by minimizing the barriers associated with hard credit inquiries, lenders are more likely to increase conversion rates.

“Soft credit pulls help accelerate transparency and create informed consumers that can make better choices,” said Jordan Brown, Founding Principal and CEO of MarketWise Advisors, LLC. “It’s a nice intersection of technology and practical process improvement. This is a straightforward win-win for both the lender and the consumer.”

“PRMG has always been a frontrunner in adopting best-in-class lending technology,” said Nima Ghamsari, Co-founder and Head of Blend. “We are thrilled to see the impact that our soft credit feature has in helping them optimize their pre-qualification process, enhance risk assessment, cut costs, and ultimately provide their borrowers with a better lending experience.”