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Market Pulse is a monthly podcast by Equifax, in partnership with Moody’s Analytics. Equifax hosts bring you interviews with industry experts on the latest economic and credit insights that can help drive better business decisions. Whether you’re in financial, mortgage, auto or another service industry, we help make sense of the latest economic conditions that impact you. This podcast series supplements our Market Pulse webinars, which occur on the first Thursday of each month.
Rebecca Kritzman (00:25):
Hello everyone and welcome to our wrap up special edition, a Market Pulse podcast at MBA annual 2025. It has been an awesome three days, and I'm here with three of my colleagues to talk about what they've heard about at MBA annual. So we're first going to start with some brief introduction. So Ashley, I'm going to start with you. Yeah, sure. And then tell me one thing we're going to, you're going to introduce yourselves and then tell us one thing that intrigued you the most about what you heard while you were here at the shop.
Ashley Sellers (00:58):
So, hi, I am Ashley Sellers. I am the VP of mortgage sales here. I lead a portion of the sales team on the mortgage side. And for me, I guess the biggest takeaway I had really was from a customer perspective. So talking to a lot of the customers it's more of conversation centering around process flows and how do we drive some efficiencies using ai? And people are really starting to think outside the box, right? And it's just, it's just nice to see the innovation mortgage historically has kind of been stalled out from an innovation perspective. And so it's nice to see that coming and that was my biggest thing.
Rebecca Kritzman (01:39):
Love it. All right, Elena.
Elena McFarland (01:41):
Hi, I'm Elena McFarland and I lead a team of solution sales experts on both the credit and verification side. So what that means is it's really piggybacking off of what Ashley just said. We come in and we really dive into our customer's workflows to ensure that they're using our products and services in the best spot within their milestones. And I would say my biggest takeaway customers were so excited to meet with us this year. I think it's been really since we had day one certainty announcements that there's been a lot of interest and really questions from our clients around all the different things that are going on in the mortgage industry today around credit scores and GSE and all the uncertainty. It's, we've had a lot of invigorating conversations.
Rebecca Kritzman (02:23):
Okay. Thank you. All right. More on that, more on your two things that you commented in. All right. Bobby, last but not least, Bobby .
Ashley Sellers (02:31):
.
Bobby (02:34):
Thank you. So obviously sitting very, very close to each other. I am the SVP of product on the credit side of the house. This week has honestly been awesome. There's not many opportunities that I get to sit with this many customers and partners to be able to understand what they're doing in their business and how we can ultimately help them. One of the things that I really took away was there's a real hunger and honestly a need to be more efficient. When we talk about income qualify, and we work through how that can kind of help them from a process flow, you can really see some eyes light up. They even love it even more now that it's a, you know, an add-on to the credit file and there's no additional cost in order to deliver those insights to them. So that was a lot of really great feedback and and commentary that I had was around that.
Bobby (03:24):
And then was also around the telco pay TV and utilities items. So I think there's a lot of work that we have to do there to educate them on the possibilities behind that data, but there was a lot of excitement to understand what that means for their business and, and how ultimately they can put it into their process flows. Because to Ashley's point, the process flow has changed a lot over the last two or three years, and people are getting creative. I don't know if everybody is quite going as far as some, but you can definitely see that everybody is taking a step forward and they want to figure out a way to make it better, whether that's to streamline the process to close faster, if that's to save cost or to do a little bit of both. So it was really great to hear their feedback and get some, some time.
Ashley Sellers (04:07):
And I do want to add, because the one thing that I really liked this year is that you guys really were heavily involved in the customer conversations. Yeah. Because it is really what is helping us drive the innovation that's happening at Equifax because you guys are hearing directly from the customer base and you're taking that and taking it to the next level. And so it is really arming our front sales team to really have some monumental talking points because we have new products and it's fantastic. So thanks for being here. Yeah. I'm giving you big thanks for being here.
Bobby (04:40):
. Yeah, it's been awesome. I mean, and as I think about the, the voice of customer, and obviously we get a lot of that during a few days like this, but kinda the interactions that both of you have on a daily basis is really what informs what we do from a roadmap perspective. So, you know, I would encourage you guys as well as really hopefully the lenders that are listening, that that feedback comes still to us, whether we're sitting down with you or not. So we do try to listen in every way that we can, regardless of,
Ashley Sellers (05:04):
Don't
Rebecca Kritzman (05:05):
You worry, Bobby, I have my list for
Bobby (05:06):
Elena's. Not shy at all.
Rebecca Kritzman (05:07):
I'm sure you guys are going to load him up. And by the way, hundred percent. He said, he just told me behind the scenes that he's going to come out with 12 new innovations. I love
Ashley Sellers (05:14):
It. In 2026.
Rebecca Kritzman (05:15):
Awesome. Love it. Yeah, so Right, like four mortgage, just fyi.
Bobby (05:18):
That's easy. We're easy. Going to double the NPI easy. Yeah.
Rebecca Kritzman (05:21):
. All right. So we're going to pivot a little bit, and I want to you guys kind of talked about maybe your, the most interesting thing that you're taking away. What's the most discouraging thing that you're taking away from this conference? And that's not to be negative, but like, listen, this, this industry has no lack of challenges, right? Mm-Hmm . So talk a little bit to, to me about that. And so I'm going to start, start with you.
Bobby (05:43):
Yeah. That's a really, really great question. I think as I kind of chew on that a little bit the pricing component is what really comes to mind. There has been a lot of movement and a lot of changes, but I think even more than just the pricing component is there are a lot of unanswered questions. So I know our, our partners and our customers, our vendor customers are really looking to us for that information. And we just don't have that available to us. We still have outstanding questions. And really, until we have those outstanding questions answered, it's really difficult for us to be able to paint the full picture of what pricing's going to look like and what this kind of new world is. And then, you know, how does the new model that is, you know, being announced by FICO impact everybody?
Rebecca Kritzman (06:27):
There's been a lot of confusion around that. Absolutely.
Ashley Sellers (06:30):
Yeah. Just a lot of change, right? Yeah.
Rebecca Kritzman (06:32):
A lot of change.
Ashley Sellers (06:33):
That, that's really what it is. I mean, there's been more change historically in the last
Elena McFarland (06:38):
For an industry that hasn't changed in 30 years. We're doing a lot, like a lot.
Ashley Sellers (06:39):
And it's happened very quick. And so people are getting overloaded with all of this information that's flowing and it's creating some confusion. And so you know, they're, they, the customers are looking to us to help try to prime clarity there as like, you take the trigger legislation that's rolling out, you take the changes from, you know, just the credit, what changes the credit bureaus are doing to the changes that's happening in the market to the change, right? I mean, there's just so much happening and there they're desperately looking for help. And so we pride ourself on, on trying to provide that to our customers.
Elena McFarland (07:16):
So I would say one of the words that I think came up most frequently in all of the meetings I had was uncertainty.
Ashley Sellers (07:22):
Yep. Mm. Yep. Yeah, I would agree. Okay.
Bobby (07:26):
And rumors are flying Yeah. Left in, right? You don't know which way is up or down.
Ashley Sellers (07:30):
So, no,
Bobby (07:31):
You know, it, it'll be nice to get some stability hopefully over the next few weeks.
Rebecca Kritzman (07:33):
And Alex, we hosted the three bureaus, you know, on a podcast earlier today. And so we had Michelle from Experian, we had Satan from TransUnion, and then of course Joel from Equifax. And they talked a lot about education needed, right? The, the uncertainty, the amount of change, you know, going on. But we have a lot of common issues, right? And, and coming together has been a really great thing, right? Yeah. Even though we're fierce competitors out in the marketplace.
Ashley Sellers (08:02):
But it's not just lender confusion, it's going to drive down to consumer confusion as well. And that, and that, and, and that's really where the lenders are looking to us, right? It is outside of just in their process flow, we have lenders saying, how can you help us educate our consumers? Right? They're, they're not understanding what's happening. They're looking to us to help, and how do they learn? What does it mean to have a, a vantage score versus A-F-I-C-O score? What do you know? There's just a lot from an educational perspective, even down to the consumer level that we could help impact. Right?
Rebecca Kritzman (08:34):
So who attended sessions while they were here?
Bobby (08:37):
I didn't get to as many as I wanted to. I was mostly the customers. Okay.
Rebecca Kritzman (08:41):
That's good. Good answer. Yeah, good answer.
Elena McFarland (08:44):
I also had a lot of meetings, but I did, I wanted to make a point to visit and attend the one yesterday around credit scoring. Okay. And there was a lot of talk around one B versus three B. Right. And I think just even some of the information that was exchanged in that session, I know I personally was sitting next to Winnie Hannah. Okay. And she was all fired up about what was being said. Yes. So there definitely is some education that I think still needs to happen. Okay.
Bobby (09:21):
How, how, when you're having the conversations with your customers, how did they feel about the three B, two B or one B, and what's their view on it?
Elena McFarland (09:28):
The customers that I've been meeting with are very supportive of still having a three B environment. I mean, their concern is valid, right? Like, if I have a consumer that comes and applies with me, if I'm not pulling the same information and credit files that, you know, lender A, B, C up the street is, then that puts, you know, everybody at a disservice. So everyone that I've talked to is very supportive of continuing in a three B environment. Okay.
Ashley Sellers (09:50):
I would agree with that. I would, I would say they're, you know, the topic, you know, kind of what we hit on earlier was process flow, right? So, so lenders are looking more from a perspective of, you know, where in the final stage is the right product from a credit perspective, whether it's a one B soft pull to a three B on the back end, right? Like, and so, but the end result still is flowing to a three B. I have not spoken to a customer where the end result didn't end with a three B. Yeah. There's just too much uncertainty around the risk. And, and so they, there's just more assessment they're looking to do before they make a make a leap like that. Okay. Is what I've heard. Yeah.
Bobby (10:26):
I had kind of the same interactions. I mean, as I sat down with people, one, pulling a one B gives them a little uncertainty when they're going to quote the customer. Yep. And they do not want to be put in a bad situation or eventually maybe lose the deal to somebody else if they go shopping and they are with the bureau as far up front as they can. So again, they can go back to that pricing and really make sure.
Ashley Sellers (10:52):
Yeah. Yeah. And then I'd say the other topic that hit on a lot was what I spoke on earlier, which was the trigger bill. Right? Right. So there was a lot of conversations around the trigger bill and, you know, what can we do? How do we go about finding alternative ways to get to consumers now that this law is going into place? And then there were, so there were those customers asking that questions, and then there were customers also asking around, you know, what does, how, what does this mean? How, you know, when is it going to be implemented? So there's a lot of conversation around that as well, so.
Elena McFarland (11:22):
Well, and I think too, you know, all of the softball products that Bobby has been awesome in bringing to market for Equifax.
Bobby (11:31):
Many new flavors coming. Yes,
Elena McFarland (11:33):
Right. Exactly. Exactly. I think even with the new trigger law, I think we brought those to market, not necessarily to help customers. I mean, I think it was an offshoot of helping customers around triggers, but it really is to do the consumer service Yeah. And, and allowing them to shop and get competitive rates without having an impact to their store. And I think that will
Ashley Sellers (11:55):
Continue. I agree.
Bobby (11:56):
Very important. Yeah. I mean, I heard the same thing. Lender are very conscious of making sure they're not doing anything to hurt the relationship of the person.
Ashley Sellers (12:02):
That's particularly because you're talking about a purchase market, right? We're still in a purchase market and that matters to consumers. And so it, particularly builders have a requirement. A lot of builders have a requirement that they want a soft pull upfront.
Rebecca Kritzman (12:15):
. All right. So what's your one recommendation for your customer? Either a lender, I know we have lenders here that we work with directly. We also have partner, a lot of partners, very important partners that we work with. What's your one recommendation after MBA 2025 to focus on. What would be that one recommendation?
Elena McFarland (12:34):
Oh my gosh. I have so many customers really that have already started with our dual processing capability where they can start looking and taking in Vantage on their origination pipeline. But so many customers were not aware that we could do that and are very interested in getting it set up as quickly as possible. So that certainly is something that I will be helping ensure that we are getting those scores available and out there to our customers so they can start doing that analysis.
Ashley Sellers (13:03):
Yeah, I would agree with Elena there. I think that that was the number one. You know, there's just a lot of unknown between the differences between the two scores. And so that was the number one ask pretty much predominantly in the meetings, was how can we assess our risk between the two so we can make the best educated decision. Okay. That, that would be my biggest as well.
Rebecca Kritzman (13:23):
All right. Love it.
Bobby (13:25):
I'd say for me we have rolled out quite a few products over the last few months. If you talk about the indicator to income qualified to dual processing. Yep. We're going to continue to do that. So one of the things that we're obviously leaning in very heavily into is the, the Vantage score so that we can give insights and we can give data to lenders so they can understand, you know, where it will help their business and what opportunities were possibly missed because they used one score and could have partnered with another. So we are going to, over the next six months, you know, kind of come out with iterations to make sure that we are giving things to them to help understand kind of what is there. So just an openness to, you know, have continual feedback and forth with the, the account executives and, and their sales reps so that they can, you know, kind of get the latest and the greatest. And, you know, obviously from a product perspective, we're happy to jump on and, and talk about some of those gaps if they have any use.
Rebecca Kritzman (14:16):
And I think that's an important point, is the whole reason we activated what happens next is we're here to listen, we're here to have a conversation with our customers, with our partners at the end of the day, and we want that to continue. That's not going to end here at MBA annual, it's going to continue. Correct. So I think that's exciting. Rebecca Kritzman (16:28):
All right. Anything last commentary? Anyone?
Ashley Sellers (16:32):
For me it would just be, you know, for any of the lenders out there that are listening to the podcast, you know, we are here to help. Right. And so please reach out. We have a variety of products that can help you guys really, you know, drive efficiency and cost savings within your process model. And so, you know, we're just a phone call away. We're happy to come into your office and walk through your process flows and, and help you understand where, what product fits where. And, and you know, so just at any point in time, reach out to us. We're here.
Rebecca Kritzman (17:01):
All right. Anyone else?
Elena McFarland (17:02):
No. Ashley and I both did speaking engagements last week. Yes. So, not only from a lender perspective, but the different local MBA chapters. Anybody that is looking for more information, we are here to help.
Rebecca Kritzman (17:14):
Awesome. Well, I want to thank everyone for tuning in and listening. And I want to thank our customers and our partners for engaging. And again, really talking about what happens next in mortgage. We know there's no shortage of excitement and things that are going to change even after we leave. So thank you for joining the special edition of Market Pulse at MBA Annual. Peace out.