Why is the Earnest Application Process so Comprehensive? | Applying For Loans

We recognize that every person is different when it comes to their finances. Rather than just looking at your credit score, we use your employment history, as well as data from your financial accounts, to better understand you as an individual. The better we know you, the better we’re able to deliver personalized rates and savings.

Here are some details about the steps in our application process:

1. Employment: In this section, you can enter details about your current and past employment, as well as other sources of income you’d like us to consider. We’re able to review income from employment or self-employment, including salaries, wages, commissions, bonuses, and business income paid directly to you. In some cases, we may also consider a future employment offer that begins within the next six months, as long as we can verify it with an official offer letter. For more information on income, you can review this article. 
2. Financial: When you link your financial accounts to your Earnest application profile, you are giving Earnest read-only access to your financial transactions within those accounts. This means we may only view the transaction and balance history, not make charges. Connecting your accounts enables us to verify the information provided in your application as well as perform calculations that are critical to our review process. Securely stored data from bank accounts is used for the purposes of underwriting your loan, verifying identity, and minimizing fraud. We do not store or have access to your usernames, passwords, or login credentials. We will also never sell your data under any circumstances.
3. Personal: Finally, entering your personal information allows us to verify your identity since we do not have any physical branches where we can do so in person. Securely uploading a government-issued photo ID helps us confirm the information we review on your credit report. Entering your Social Security Number is used to perform the hard credit inquiry we must complete when processing your application and further minimizes the potential for fraud by ensuring we are reviewing the correct credit report.