Fraud Scoring Platform Automates Underwriting of Rep & Warranty Insurance

Automated underwriting ins’t just for mortgages, anymore. Interthinx, Inc., a risk mitigation and compliance provider, said late Tuesday that its proprietary fraud scoring system had been rolled into production by various insurers as part of an automated insurance underwriting package for representation and warranty liabilities. The company said in a press statement that it had formed strategic alliances with numerous insurers that issue so-called repurchase liability insurance for lenders, offering an automated risk scoring assessment via Interthinx’ FraudGUARD platform. The company did not provide details on which insurers are using its product to automatically underwrite lender policies, but touted it as a “first-of-its kind” offering that could help lenders better control cost. Previously, mortgage fraud and representation insurance involved manual file reviews rather than analytic-based risk scoring, Interthinx said. Loans are eligible to be insured based on receipt of a “passing” FraudGUARD score. Mike Zwerner, senior vice president of business development and marketing for Interthinx, was quick to point out that Interthinx’ participation behind-the-scenes at some insurers need not replace a lender’s own use of the platform to manage fraud and risk in its own pipeline, but said that the automated insurance program represented “an added measure” for lenders looking to manage risk exposure. “Lenders and investors can now turn a variable fraud loss into a fixed budget item, which is important to many of our customers in today’s contracted market,” said Kevin Coop, president of Interthinx. “Lenders can decrease loss reserves while increasing investor and rating agency confidence by purchasing insurance based on our proven scoring system.” For more information, visit http://www.interthinx.com.