Experian-Workday Integration Expands Real-Time Income and Employment Verification

Share this article!

Experian is expanding the payroll data available through its income and employment verification network with a new Workday integration that could reduce the amount of manual documentation needed in mortgage underwriting and other financial decisions.

Experian announced the integration Thursday, saying Workday customers will be able to use Experian Verify for income and employment requests through Workday Total Benefits beginning in late October.

The company says its expanding verification network now has a path to more than 80 million records, representing more than half of U.S. payroll employees. Experian tied that estimate to Bureau of Labor Statistics data showing approximately 159.1 million nonfarm payroll employees in August. The 80 million figure describes Experian’s projected network coverage, not a guarantee that every worker record will be available for every verification request.

Why the integration matters for mortgages

Income and employment verification sits at a critical point in mortgage underwriting. When an automated source cannot confirm a borrower’s information, lenders may need pay stubs, W-2s, employer contacts or other documentation. Those additional steps can create friction for borrowers and operations teams, particularly when a file is approaching underwriting or closing.

Experian Verify combines payroll-provider integrations, employer-direct records and consumer-permissioned verification. Adding Workday broadens the potential pool of employer data that can be accessed through the platform.

“Whether it’s buying a home, purchasing a family vehicle, getting a job or navigating another important financial milestone, behind every verification request is a person trying to move forward,” Michele Bodda, group president of Experian Verification Solutions, Employer Services and Housing, said in the announcement.

The integration does not change mortgage underwriting standards or automatically establish that a borrower’s income qualifies. It changes the infrastructure through which participating organizations may obtain employment and income information. Lenders remain responsible for applying applicable investor, agency and underwriting requirements.

A larger verification race

Automated verification has become increasingly important as lenders try to reduce manual processing without weakening controls around borrower income and employment. Coverage is central to that effort: an automated system is most useful when the employer and employee data needed for a particular file are actually available.

Experian’s strategy has been to build coverage through multiple channels rather than a single payroll source. The Workday integration adds another large enterprise platform to that network and gives Workday customers another option for handling verification requests.

Nancy Weitl, Workday vice president of HCM product management, said the companies are trying to reduce the administrative burden on both HR teams and employees. “HR teams shouldn’t have to become paperwork chasers, and employees shouldn’t have to put life on hold waiting for a verification to clear,” she said.

The mortgage implications will depend on adoption, employer participation and how consistently the expanded network can return usable data for borrowers. Experian did not disclose mortgage-specific hit rates or quantify how much the Workday integration is expected to reduce processing times.

That distinction matters. A network capable of reaching more records can improve the odds of automated verification, but the operational benefit to an individual lender depends on the composition of its borrowers and the employers represented in the system.

Workday customers are expected to gain the Experian verification option through Total Benefits in late October. That makes Thursday’s announcement an infrastructure expansion with a defined rollout window rather than a claim that every new record is available today.