In September 2021, Equifax launched a cloud-native employment income verification solution called Verification Exchange into the Australian market to transform how employment income is verified, helping to remove the need for printed payslips to be the accepted solution for verifying employment income in Australia.

For financial service providers to verify employment income as part of a mortgage, auto loan or another financial service application, the conventional process has been to ask the borrower (employee) to send in their last three payslips. The employee usually contacts their employer or payroll and asks for help accessing these payslips, which are then often printed, scanned and emailed to the lender.

The development of Verification Exchange meets the market demand for an employment income verification process that moves with the times, providing an efficient, secure, affordable digital alternative to the insecure way that payroll data is currently shared with third parties. This innovative ‘digital vault’ is the first service of its kind in Australia to champion secure, consumer-permissioned data exchange for employment income verification.

The exchange is home to up-to-date payroll data from employers and payroll providers. Once a credentialed financial service provider has consent from the borrower, they can quickly and easily request a verification directly from the exchange. This automated approach eliminates the usual delays that characterise the manual process of seeking copies of the applicant’s payslip: missed calls, unavailable HR personnel or having to interpret different formats of information.

Moving from manual employment income verification to digital verification brings benefits to all three user groups: financial service providers (verifiers), employers and employees (borrowers). Verification Exchange assists with better decision-making for financial service providers, enabling faster loan processing times and a better customer experience. Likewise, employers can save administrative time and use the exchange to champion employee financial wellbeing.

In a climate of increasing concerns about fraud and unauthorised use of sensitive employee data, Verification Exchange helps mitigate risk by assisting employers in meeting their privacy obligations. Verification Exchange follows the principles of privacy by design and incorporates globally recognised best practices in data management. Equifax is an industry leader in data security, and for the second year in a row, it has exceeded every major industry benchmark for the maturity of its cybersecurity program. Its security capabilities are ranked in the Gartner top 1% of analysed technology and financial service companies.

For employees, Verification Exchange reduces financial stress, helping to move more Australians more quickly towards achieving major life goals. This pioneering innovation is a fee-free service to employers and employees.

For more information about Equifax Verification Exchange, visit equifax.com.au/verificationexchange/