Equifax Canada and Naborly announced a new credit data partnership, which includes an exclusive web referral arrangement between the two companies.
The deal gives Naborly access to Equifax’s credit data across Canada, and provide services to new market segments like small landlords and property management firms (25 rentals or less). Naborly will also be Equifax’s preferred referral partner; any customer within the small landlord and property management firm segment in the Equifax sales pipeline will be referred to Naborly.
Prior to this partnership, small property management firms and landlords were difficult to service profitably for Equifax, due to extensive privacy and security regulations required to access credit data.
“Our goal as a company is to provide the rental industry, both traditional and software service providers, with the foundational infrastructure that each of them is required to implement over and over again,” said Dylan Lenz, CEO of Naborly. “Processes around credit and background check integration, rental history database integration and reporting systems, as well as tenant profiles. We look at Naborly as a mix between Equifax and LinkedIn for the rental industry; landlords and tenants can use Naborly through many other RentTech software products and services, or we can be utilized as a stand-alone solution.”
Naborly, which acquired LRANK in November 2016 and raised a $1.25 million seed round that same year, provides residential tenant screening for landlords and addresses administrative tasks like verifying call references.
“We recognize the value of working closely with disruptive technology companies like Naborly, where there is clear value for both sides,” said Chris Briggs, CMO at Equifax Canada. “In this case, Naborly benefits from the established credit reporting network and global scale of Equifax. We benefit by having the opportunity to offer Equifax services alongside Naborly, giving us access to new customers and markets. However, the specific reason we partnered with Naborly is because they are the clear leaders in the field. Their technology has created a new standard for Tenant Screening providers, and we haven’t see another company come close to the depth, accuracy, or the user-friendly nature of the Naborly product.”
By having access to credit data, Naborly is working to build a platform that allows tenants to fill out rental applications and build a profile in one hub, and let landlords assess the risk of tenants beyond just a credit score, which is not always reliable.
“Since we began, our goal has been to solve the problems tenants experience around finding a place to live and proving that they are reliable renters. We knew that we had to do it in a way that maintains the personal privacy, security, and liberty, while still assuring the landlord they are making the right choice,” said Lenz. “We’re glad that Equifax has decided to share our vision and help us continue to grow across our business across North America.”