How Argyle plans to replace the world’s Equifaxes
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Having your updated and accurate personal and financial information under your control and ready to use in an instant is something that was not readily available in the past – especially for the growing gig, contract and creator economies. But what a difference that data would have when time is of the essence in getting a loan or applying for a job.
To meet that need, New York City-based Argyle, which has announced a $55 million Series B funding round, today launched a new SaaS service that provides companies with real-time access to user-authorized employment data, employees from the new economy directly helps and saves you a lot of time and effort.
Four-year-old Argyle claims this is the first self-service consumer tool to generate free income and employment verification reports. Argyle’s consent-driven service provides a much-needed alternative to outdated and time-consuming verification processes and allows employees to easily access, verify and share their income and employment information with lenders, landlords and employers of their choice – at no cost to them.
Using Argyle’s SaaS service, a professional can upload repetitive form information in addition to a W-9 or W-2 document, insurance information, and best of all, current and past income information needed for a loan or new job application. .
Goodbye to the credit score?
The old financial system is irrelevant to the new ways people work now, Argyle CEO and co-founder Shmulik Fishman told VentureBeat. In transforming credit decisions, Argyle says consumers shouldn’t be judged by a single opaque inferred number — namely, the credit score — over which they have little to no control. Argyle’s approach breaks with this conventional credit model and invites companies to reevaluate consumer applications for loans, housing, insurance and other essential financial services, he said.
“Consumers are hurt by inaccurate and incomplete income and employment data because it is difficult and time-consuming to retain. Companies like Experian and Plaid make huge profits by selling income and employment verifications on data that is static and may not reflect a consumer’s actual real-time situation,” Fishman said.
Type 1099 employees (performance, freelancer, creator, etc.) are often left behind and denied financial services because they do not have the same predictable employment data as full-time W-2 employees. In fact, new Argyle survey data of more than 1,200 gig, freelance and contract workers found that more than 63% of gig and freelance workers who have the means to pay for financial services were denied entry because their credit score was based on old or incorrect information.
Nearly 70% of gig and freelance workers believe their work and income data reflects their ability to pay more accurately than their credit score, but most companies and institutions still rely solely on credit score, Fishman said.
Financial Services Denied
Solving this problem is a victory for consumers who currently do not have access to vital financial services (loans, leases, mortgages, etc.) amid global volatility and the institutions that are not serving them, but should be.
“This is about access to financial services and products,” Argyle co-founder and COO Billy Marsden told VentureBeat. “If you can demonstrate how much money you make, how often you work, etc., it makes it easier for financial institutions to insure those products, which helps automate the process and lower their costs. So it’s a win-win on both sides.
“The nature of work is changing; not everyone is a W-2 anymore. People are freelancers. People make money on Patreon or Substack or YouTube, in the creator economy. There’s a joke in this industry that banks would rather insure a W-2 worker making $100,000 than a freelancer making $500,000. And I think that trend will only continue.”
Marsden said Argyle’s growing coverage includes more than 500,000 U.S. employers, including 60% of the Fortune 500, millions of gig workers and more than 170 million U.S. employees.
Argyle has yet to be evaluated by analysts like G2.com, Cpterra or Gartner Peer Reviews.
“Argyle sets a new standard for how credit risk is assessed,” Fishman told VentureBeat. “It opens the door to broader financial access for all consumers by addressing identity, employment and income verification in a holistic and equitable manner. We can replace the Equifaxes of the world.”
Argyle’s Series B funding round was led by SignalFire with participation from current investors including Bain Capital Ventures, Bedrock and Checkr. Following Argyle’s $23 million Series A, the additional capital injection will be used to accelerate the growth of the in-house engineering team, drive international expansion and scale the company’s go-to-market operations, Fishman said.
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This post How Argyle plans to replace the world’s Equifaxes
was original published at “https://venturebeat.com/2022/03/08/how-argyle-plans-to-replace-the-equifaxes-of-the-world/”
