MicroBilt Corporation

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MicroBilt Corporation is a credit reporting company and alternative credit data provider.[1][2] Since its founding in 1978, it has grown by acquisition to challenge its larger rivals.[3] Its PRBC consumer credit subsidiary offers consumers the ability to self-report on the bill paying habits as a means of positively impacting their credit score. MicroBilt’s other subsidiaries focus on business credit and services to sub-prime lenders. Many of the company's products are designed to help businesses accurately assess risk on consumers who otherwise have thin traditional credit files. In doing so, credit can be extended to consumers where it couldn't before opening a new customer base to a company and new opportunities to a consumer.[4]

Products[edit]

MicroBilt offers a wide range of data products and services across the lending cycle from originations and underwriting through collections and debt recovery. Their products are available as APIs and through custom web portals. Among the company’s best-known products are:

  • iPreview – Advanced verification solution, offering a refined ‘first look’ at application data for lenders and financial services companies looking to prescreen leads effectively.
  • iPredict Advantage – An automated decisioning platform that leverages traditional and alternative credit data to assess consumer risk during lending assessments.
  • Risk Verification Database (‘rVd’) – A prescreening product used to verify consumer identity and banking information in advance of lending and other business transactions.
  • Instant Bank Verification (‘IBV’) – A real-time consumer financial data aggregator used to assess a consumer’s ability to repay a loan.
  • Bank Account Verify Advantage (‘BAV’) – Helps lenders reduce underwriting risk by leveraging a consumer’s reported banking and loan history together to more precisely identify qualified borrowers and better predict loan payment default and was developed through current customers interviews and competitor products.
  • MLA – The Military Lending Act (MLA) mandates special requirements for lenders extending credit to active duty military personnel, their family members and dependents, National Guard members, and members of a reserve component of the Army, Navy, Air Force or Marine Corps.

Acquisitions[edit]

Bloomberg's Company overview of MicroBilt, based on data independently collected by Standard & Poor's, lists the following acquisitions and incorporations:[3]

  • 2002 – MergTech assets
  • 2004 – incorporated MicroBilt Merchant Services and MicroBilt Financial Services
  • 2005 – Profit Systems Software, Credit Data Systems Inc, Eclectic Data Systems Inc.
  • 2005 – incorporated ComplyTraq LLC incorporated
  • 2008 – acquired PRBC
  • 2010 – incorporated MicroBilt UK Ltd
  • 2010 – acquired CL Verify ("CLV"), formerly DP Bureau, a leading supplier of credit-related information to short term lenders

MicroBilt Merchant Services[edit]

The merchant services provided by MicroBilt Merchant Services are accredited by Visa.[5] This subsidiary also supports remote deposit.[6]

MicroBilt Financial Services[edit]

Incorporated in 2004,[7] MicroBilt Financial Services acquired several companies in 1994, 1995 and 1996,[8] and used the name MicroBilt Financial Services Division on an interim basis. Some of their software products were internally developed and others were purchased.

Microbilt Connect[edit]

Incorporated in 2002 as Pay Rent, Build Credit,[9][10] PRBC's Unique selling proposition is letting individuals detail their creditworthiness using verifiable data that is not used by the other major credit reporting agencies. Initial success factors included that individuals could self-register, and recognition by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Citimortgage.[11]

MicroBilt, which acquired PRBC in 2008, has continued to develop it, and released a major line extension in 2012.[12] To the public at large, PRBC is MicroBilt's most visible offering.[13] A year after the 2008 acquisition, some attention was attained with their “Personal info we’ve got to protect, because you know we don't want identify theftrap.[14] In 2020, the business unit was renamed Microbilt Connect.

CL Verify[edit]

CL Verify, which provides identity verification and payday loan history reporting, was acquired in 2010 from DP Bureau[15] They compete with Teletrack, which is known for its consumer credit database used by sub-prime lenders and payday lenders. Somewhat prior to this acquisition, CL Verify had launched a Skip tracing service.[16]

Books using MicroBilt data[edit]

Several recent books have used data from MicroBilt for research.

Corporate Performance[edit]

As a holding company, MicroBilt Corporation began to attract significant earnings coverage by 1987.[18] The NY Times, in reporting on the limited use of on-time rental-payments by other major Credit Reporting Agencies, mentions that "MicroBilt... provides services including alternative credit reporting" and how "MicroBilt's data is used to generate FICO Expansion Scores, which are used for consumers who don't qualify for a traditional FICO score."[19]

Sponsorship[edit]

MicroBilt began sponsoring a sports team in 2014.[20] [21]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "MicroBilt". Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Retrieved 2022-07-31.
  2. ^ "About MicroBilt Corporation". MicroBilt Corporation. Retrieved 2022-07-31.
  3. ^ a b "Microbilt Corp - Company Profile and News". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2022-07-31.
  4. ^ Office, U. S. Government Accountability (20 June 2019). "Credit Scoring Alternatives for Those Without Credit". www.gao.gov. Retrieved 2022-08-01.
  5. ^ "Visa's Global Registry of Service Providers".
  6. ^ "Financial Institutions Must Rethink Their Remote Deposit Capture Support Models" (PDF).
  7. ^ "MicroBilt Financial Services Corp".
  8. ^ "As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 12, 1997".
  9. ^ Susan V. Berresford, Ford Reports' Microfinance Plus, Ford Foundation website, 2004.
  10. ^ subsequently shortened to PRBC
  11. ^ Kenneth R. Harney (October 1, 2005). "Finally, Credit For Paying the Bills". Washington Post.
  12. ^ PRBC MainStreet
  13. ^ "PRBC – Life's Alternative Score". PRBC – Payment Reporting Builds Credit.
  14. ^ Farrell, Maurine (28 September 2009). "Must-Try Marketing Maneuvers". Forbes. Retrieved 6 September 2017.
  15. ^ "MicroBilt Corporation/ CL Verify". Bloomberg News. March 2024.
  16. ^ "CL Verify Launches TRACKER Skip-trace Service". 14 October 2008. Retrieved September 6, 2017.
  17. ^ for more books, see: https://www.google.com/search?tbs=bks:1&q=%22MicroBilt+Corporation%22
  18. ^ "MICROBILT CORP reports earnings for Qtr to June 30". The New York Times. 9 September 1987.
  19. ^ Ann Carrns (February 4, 2014). "Your Money". The New York Times.
  20. ^ "Team MicroBilt PRBC". MicroBilt/PRBC-sponsored Team website.
  21. ^ "LeHigh Valley – Ronnie Stewart – sponsored by MicroBilt". 4 August 2013.

External links[edit]