TransUnion Invests $24 Million in Truework Income Verification Platform Amid Focus on Competitor Equifax
In a move that is set to shake up the income and employment verification market, Truework has announced a strategic partnership with consumer credit reporting giant TransUnion. This partnership comes with a significant investment of $24 million in equity funding from TransUnion, underscoring the deep relationship between the two companies.
A Brief Overview of Truework
Founded in 2017, San Francisco-based Truework is an income and employment verification platform that integrates with third-party services such as payroll providers. This integration enables mortgage providers and similar lenders to verify users and approve loans directly from within their own applications. Additionally, Truework can be used by landlords or would-be employers for background checks.
The Partnership with TransUnion
The partnership between Truework and TransUnion has been quietly live for a few weeks now, but its implications are significant. With this collaboration, TransUnion will effectively sell Truework’s income verification product alongside its main credit product, making it possible for a single API to provide access to both credit and income data. This means that a TransUnion customer, such as a bank, can access both data sets through the same vendor and API.
"This is powerful for the lender and customer," said Ryan Sandler, co-founder and CEO of Truework, in an interview with TechCrunch. "Especially for the thousands of customers who already use TransUnion for credit data."
The Impact on Industry Heavyweights
This partnership puts TransUnion in a stronger position to compete with industry heavyweight Equifax, which has long offered income verification alongside its credit reporting toolset. Until recently, Equifax was the only credit reporting bureau with an income verification product, and it was able to maximize distribution through established credit channels.
"The advantage was especially apparent in mortgage," Sandler noted. "Income and employment verification has become required for conforming loans since the Dodd-Frank Act came into effect."
The Future of Truework
For Truework, this partnership is a significant boost to its exposure among some of the world’s biggest companies. The platform is already used by many mortgage lenders, and it drives a ton of value for these customers.
"Now, TransUnion will be distributing the product to new verticals and use cases," Sandler continued. "From property management to credit card applications."
The Future of M&A
This partnership also raises questions about the future of mergers and acquisitions in the industry. Given the synergies between Truework and TransUnion, it’s not hard to imagine that this investment could be a precursor to a full-on acquisition.
Indeed, TransUnion has a history of buying companies, including venture-backed startups, with over 10 such deals in the past five years alone. Although this partnership is significant, it’s too early to make any wild predictions about the future.
Conclusion
The partnership between Truework and TransUnion marks an exciting development in the income and employment verification market. With $24 million in equity funding and a strategic partnership that puts TransUnion in a stronger position to compete with industry heavyweights like Equifax, this move is set to have significant implications for the future of income and employment verification.
About the Author
Paul Sawers is a senior writer based in London, covering UK and European startups. He has over a decade’s experience writing about consumer and enterprise technologies for publications such as The Next Web (now owned by the Financial Times) and VentureBeat. You can reach him at paul.sawers@techcrunch.com.
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