Capturing the Customer's Consent

Many people want to buy your products and services, but figuring out who will actually make a good customer is more challenging. When leads arrive looking for credit, it’s not always clear if they are good for the money. 

Fortunately, there is a solution: soft pull credit reports. These pulls let you see their eligibility for loans or other financial products before agreeing to a loan, mortgage, or another line of credit. 

However, businesses need to be careful. They must get the customer’s consent before performing a soft pull, according to Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) law. You cannot do a soft pull without it. 

This post teaches you the various ways you can get consent. We then explore why you should use Soft Pull Solutions to do your soft pulls and the benefits our services offer. 

How To Capture Consent For Soft Pulls

As a business, you’ll need to follow a specific sequence for legally-compliant soft pulls. 

Step 1: Capture

The first step is to get explicit consent from customers to pull their credit. You can do this by:

• Getting them to provide consent digitally, such as a form or electronic signature
• In-person by them telling you face-to-face or signing a piece of paper
• Over the phone and on a recorded phone line

Step 2: Record

Next, you must record the consent to prove a customer gave it to you after the fact.

For instance:

• Digital. You must provide an “I AGREE” box (or something similar like a digital signature option) that enables the customer to follow your written instructions under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) authorized by you. You must state that you will view their information from a specific credit bureau and that you are doing so for a pre-qualification check.
• Over the Phone. For people who call, you’ll need to say something similar to the following: “To proceed with your credit request, we need your consent to authorize our company to access your report for loan prequalification purposes. Please state your full name to authorize this payment.” The customer will then state their name, fulfilling the legal permission requirement. 
• In-person. For in-person or face-to-face interactions, you will provide the applicant with a consent form. This document will say something similar to the following: “By signing the form below, you are providing us with consent to pull your credit report under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and authorizing us to view information on your credit profile from a credit bureau. This permission is to conduct a pre-qualification check online.” 

Step 3: Store

Finally, you must store the information for a minimum of 60 months. How you store it will depend on the method the customer or applicant used to give their consent. 

• Digital. You must keep information on a secure server and be able to produce it if auditors or regulators ask for it. 
• Phone. You must store all audio files of your conversations with customers on secure servers, hard drives, or other electronic storage devices.
• In-person. You must keep paper consent forms in a locked, secure storage item or unit.

Best Practices When Capturing Consent

Companies should adopt best practices when capturing consent to maximize compliance. For instance, when asking customers to sign documents digitally, use E-SIGN software, including formal consent authorization language. When asking for confirmation over the phone, you should adopt a rigorous approach by using an approved pre-recorded message that interrupts the regular conversation with your reps. Again, this approach reduces the risk of saying the wrong thing or failing to speak in a compliant manner. 

Finally, use proper authorization language when asking customers to sign consent forms in person. The best option here is to find a template or use a service to generate the specific legally-compliant language you need. 

Why Use Soft Pull Solutions To Do Your Soft Pulls

Performing soft pulls by yourself can be challenging. Your enterprise usually lacks sufficient knowledge to do it compliantly, potentially putting you at risk of legal action in the future. 

Fortunately, Soft Pull Solutions can help by doing your soft pulls for you. Our service provides multiple benefits to streamline your business and improve your bottom line, reducing the amount of work  you have to do each week. Here are some of the most significant ways our service helps you:

Only Attract High-Quality Leads

Businesses hate time-wasters, but they are incredibly common. Many people will claim they can afford the credit they need to purchase your products and services when they can’t. 

Fortunately, with our quick soft pull services, you can put eligibility checking on auto-pilot. We tell you if they are suitable loan candidates quickly without the need to do it yourself. This approach means you can spend more time catering to qualified customers and less on those who lack creditworthiness. 

Close Deals Faster and Increase Revenues

Another benefit of Soft Pull Solutions is that we enable you to close deals and increase revenues faster. Customers get a superior experience because they can move from credit checking to the sales part of the process faster. Closing more deals enables you to drive revenue and keep your stakeholders happy.

Remain Compliant

Another reason for using our services is they help your business remain compliant. Our ready-to-go solutions meet FCRA requirements, allowing you to pass external audits with flying colors. 

Avoid Fraud and Manage Risk

Lastly, our customer consent-capturing solutions and soft pulls help your business manage risk and fraud. Dishonest clients can waste time and money, and potentially put your brand’s reputation at risk. But with soft pull partners working for you, you can reduce the risk of financial crime and ensure customers are being 100 percent honest with you at all times. By viewing their credit report for pre-qualification checks, you can learn about their financial history and their dealings with other lenders. 

Try Soft Pull Solutions today and see how our services can benefit your business. 

Note: This article serves as general information only and does not constitute legal advice. For more comprehensive guidance specific to your situation, it is recommended to consult with a qualified attorney.