The president of Far West Credit Services, Barton Taylor, is well known within credit reporting because of his past business as a supplier of credit report forms to credit reporting agencies, and through his current position as President of the National Credit Reporting Association (NCRA). Far West is keen to adopting technology that allows the company to attract new clients while keeping operation costs down.

"Our previous system was a really slick, cutting-edge system with nice interfaces to LOS systems. When I opened shop with the remote access feature I really kicked butt," Taylor beams. "I was lucky to get out of the business I was in previously and was really excited about credit reporting."

Taylor was happy with his credit reporting system and looked forward to future enhancements. However, as time went by, the upgrades that were made to his system left much to be desired. "It was still the same software only more complex and harder to use," Taylor remembers. "Every step they took forward to make the system more dynamic actually made ten steps backwards."

As a result of these system changes, Taylor found that his operations was becoming more and more inefficient and the quality of his service was suffering. Customers started to leave and eventually business deteriorated to the point that Taylor admits: "I didn't even like the business."

Solution
MeridianLink approached Far West Credit with Mortgage Credit Link as an alternative solution to their credit reporting software needs. Taylor understood the advantages of an ASP model of software deployment and was eager to try out a Web-based product. He had done some research on other credit reporting systems available at the time, but found out that nobody had developed a solution that he wanted.

"[Other software companies] had Internet-type systems, but they weren't complete," Taylor says. "On some systems, the workflow was too complicated. On others there were technical attributes, such as installing certificates, that didn't make sense to me."

Although MeridianLink was not a name Taylor was familiar with when he adopted the Mortgage Credit Link (MCL) system, Taylor got to know the company and the people at MeridianLink better. He ultimately followed his intuition. "I felt that MeridianLink was young, aggressive and hard working. I could sense that they had some integrity and morals. That's important to me."

Far West implemented MCL in October of 2000 and immediately Taylor was impressed with the robustness of the system and the simplicity in its design. Taylor is fond of quoting his favorite acronym: KISS, Keep It Simple Stupid. "I like to keep my life simple. The simplicity of editing reports, it was so easy and straightforward to update reports and RMCRs that I was really convinced we had a very powerful tool in our hands."

Results
Since implementing the MCL system, Far West Credit Services has enjoyed a healthy mortgage market, and their business is running more efficiently than ever.

Taylor admits that transitioning between credit reporting systems was not a task he was looking forward to, given the experiences of his previous software provider. "Emotionally, to try to make a change is hard." Fortunately, the ease of use of the MCL system made training a minor issue and Web-browser access to the system meant setting up existing customers would take a matter of minutes, instead of hours.

"We started using MeridianLink in the spring of 2001. Tech support and all of my production people from that point forward begged me to get rid of my old system. It was an easy transition," Taylor notes. "I actually tried to slow down the conversion because my salespeople were putting them on too quickly." Within nine months, Far West was able to convert all of their accounts on to the MCL system, over 400 companies.

Far West has realized cost savings in a number of areas. Taylor emphasizes the lowered personnel costs that have resulted from his company using MCL. These savings have not come at the expense of laying off staff; rather, his staff has become more productive and efficient, able to handle increased production volume without a rise in staffing requirements. In fact, his staff has become so efficient that the work environment is noticeably more relaxed, resulting in better quality service.

Equipment and communication expenses have plummeted because Far West no longer needed to host a system on-site nor maintain numerous modem lines or frame relay connections. The cost of a single server that was required for his previous credit reporting system eclipsed the amount of money Taylor spent on purchasing additional PC stations.

The biggest savings to Taylor, however, are the unknown savings. Opportunity costs were saved by spending less time setting up clients and the peace of mind afforded by the ease of use and stability of MCL presents an intangible benefit, what Taylor considers 'Good Will' savings. "People love the system. Referral rates have gone up and for once, I can be selective about the customers I bring on," Taylor says.

The bottom line is that Far West Credit Service has enjoyed an increase in revenue during the past year they have utilized MCL. Although the mortgage credit industry is susceptible to market fluctuations, he knows that without MCL, "We'd be out of business by now."

If intuition is a shot in the dark, then Taylor feels he hit the bull's-eye with MCL. Although he admits that there was a certain level of risk in partnering with a company he initially knew so little about, Taylor is firm in his belief that he made the right choice. "My judgment character calls were right," Taylor says. "I'm reinvigorated about the [mortgage credit reporting] business again!"

Background
Credit Service Company was established in 1963 and quickly grew to be a major provider of mortgage credit reports in Southern California. A family-oriented business that believes in "old-fashioned" values of hard work, trust and integrity, Credit Service Company prides itself in their ability to foster close relationships with their clients and employees. At one point in the mid-eighties, Credit Service Co. employed 94 people with numerous offices in Los Angeles, Orange and Santa Clara counties.

Challenge
In 1989 Credit Service Company adopted a DOS-based software system that improved their performance and reduced mortgage credit report turn-around times vastly. Between 1992 and 2000, credit report volume increased 40% and net revenue increased 25%.

However, the complexity of the credit reporting system they were using was taking a toll on their maintenance and technical support expenditures. Installing software and setting up equipment on a client's site was time consuming and costly. John Fish, General Manager for Credit Service Company recalls the difficulties of getting clients hooked up: "Making sure that the computers work OK, the labor intensiveness, making sure the forms would actually print… it was a nightmare."

Setting up customers was not the only technical problem that was draining resources. Internally, their credit reporting system required constant maintenance. Corrupted files would shut down the system for hours, sometimes days. "We spent tens of thousands of dollars maintaining the system in-house. It required us to hire an outside consulting company to handle the maintenance," says Fish.

Technical issues notwithstanding, Credit Service Company enjoyed increased sales and higher productivity from their work force. But the decision to find an alternative technology provider ultimately came down to a matter of trust. "We're like a family here… when we started using [our previous technology provider], we were the very first ones to use the system, so we put a lot of faith in them," Fish says.

Like many other technology companies in the mortgage credit software market, Credit Service Company's technology provider was a credit reporting agency themselves - a competing entity. In spite of this tenuous relationship, Credit Service Company worked with their technology provider until it became evident that the quality of support and service they received deteriorated, hurting their ability to compete. Eventually, their technology provider stopped supporting their credit reporting system altogether, and Credit Service Company realized that the relationship had to end. "It didn't make sense to us," says Lois Kelly, Office Manager. "We were constantly fighting with them for business."

Solution
Early in 2000, the idea of Internet credit reporting was beginning to be discussed within the mortgage credit reporting industry. Credit Service Company understood the potential advantages of having a system that didn't require software installation or complex networking issues.

"About 6 months before we ran into MeridianLink, people were talking about using the Internet for credit reporting," Fish remarks. By the time MeridianLink had contacted Fish and demonstrated the Mortgage Credit Link system in October 2000, he was already sold. "[Mortgage Credit Link] is the solution to all of our problems. The ease of use, versatility of the system… everything was just a click and go."

The prospect of reducing or even eliminating their maintenance costs had an even stronger appeal to Credit Service Company. Having already spent thousands of dollars on maintaining a system that was out of date and unsupported by their previous provider, Credit Service Company felt that MeridianLink could deliver an Internet-based system that fulfilled all of their expectations.

Results
Within the first month of using Mortgage Credit Link, Fish knew that not only did he have a system that would improve his business, he had found a partner that was willing to work with him every step of the way. "Every time I had a suggestion, [MeridianLink] would have it done within hours, literally."

Unlike their previous system, implementing the Mortgage Credit Link system didn't require Credit Service Company to change or upgrade any of the equipment in their office. According to Fish's estimates, Credit Service Company had spent at least six times as much money maintaining their previous system over what they had spent on computer equipment during the first year of using Mortgage Credit Link.

Improvements in workflow efficiency and merge accuracy provided by the Mortgage Credit Link system reduced the time required to process Residential Mortgage Credit Reports (RMCR). Internet-based customer service requests have reduced call volumes and as a result, payroll costs have gone down considerably as staffing requirements were pared by five employees.

In just fourteen months of use Credit Service Company increased their credit report volumes by 30%. Customer base has grown 18%, and referral rates have doubled.

But by far the most important aspect of MeridianLink for Credit Service Company is the feeling of security in partnering with a technology provider that is not competing with them. "We know that MeridianLink has our best interests in mind," says Fish. Free from any second guessing of their provider's motives, Credit Service Company knows that they can concentrate on improving their business because MeridianLink is committed to their number one goal, service. "We were shocked," exclaims Fish. "They listen to us. They're a real team."