hands handshake partnership Image credit pixabay/rawpixelsSage has partnered with Equifax, the consumer and business credit reporting agency. The two companies will integrate their technology, combining Sage Payroll in the UK with the Equifax verification service Verification Exchange.

The intent is to simplify the application process for work and finance applications, whether for a new position in a different company, loan or mortgage.

Rudy Ploder, President of Equifax Workforce Solutions, commented: “We’re proud to partner with Sage to help UK consumers have a more seamless experience when it comes to important life events such as buying a home, leasing a car, or starting a new job. It’s all part of our Equifax company purpose – to help people live their financial best.”       

Questions to answer

The announcement may raise concerns from some employees after the well-publicised data breach Equifax experienced n 2017, attributed to Chinese military hackers in 2020. However, it also signals that Equifax has put its house in order and that other vendors are trusting the company.

What is missing from this announcement is how Sage will ensure that only employees that want to share their data can take advantage of this. In a similar announcement, Zellis partnered with Experian for a similar integration last year. In that case, the employee authorises every request by a third party, such as a mortgage vendor. Experian already partners with Sage for the same service

Why would Sage add another vendor? The way Aaron Harris is evolving Sage architecture will have meant that it is much easier to add Equifax to the Sage digital network after integrating with Experian. It will mean that the employees of Sage Customers will now be able to automate even more finance processes that are outside their control.

A benefit to business and consumers

Clearly, Sage believes in this type of service. It cited research by Admiral MultiCover, published in HRNews, that life tasks can take up as much as 13 days a year for UK workers. While this is not the amount of time individuals spend in applying for mortgages/loans, this new integration will speed up the process and increase the efficiency of obtaining loans and mortgages. Firms partnering with Equifax will also benefit from fast checks during recruitment.

An example is the automation of collating employment and income details with Equifax, able to automate the transfer of information to the requesting party without the individual having to locate and fill in forms.

Aaron Harris, Chief Technology Officer, Sage
Aaron Harris, Chief Technology Officer, Sage

Aaron Harris, CTO of Sage, said: “At Sage, we’re focused on harnessing technology and data to make life easier for everyone by automating time-consuming processes, reducing admin, and speeding up decision-making.

“Today, more than 40% of UK private sector businesses pay their employees using our software. This, along with our deep experience and insights, means we can remove the friction in verification checks between consumers and third parties, providing more streamlined and accurate access to credit.”

Enterprise Times: What does this mean

This is another employee benefit that Sage Payroll customers can offer their employees. Helping the customer’s customer can strengthen the bond between software vendors and their customers. It makes the relationship sticky in a way that contractual obligations never quite manage. If customers want to move away from Sage Payroll, their employees are likely to lose what many will see as a useful benefit, which may give organisations pause.

What will be interesting is whether the relationship between Equifax and Sage extends to include other integrations, such as some of the business services that Equifax offers.

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