First Financial cuts verification costs by more than 60% with Argyle

Combining borrower-permissioned data and Doc VOI to improve verification quality, increase R&W relief and lower costs

First Financial Bank is a Texas-based financial institution headquartered in Abilene, with a broad footprint spanning nearly 80 branches across the state. Its mortgage division operates as a distributed retail organization supported by approximately 35 loan officers.

Challenge

Like many lenders, First Financial Bank had long relied on Equifax’s The Work Number for verification of income (VOI) and verification of employment (VOE). While the model was effective, relying on it as the primary approach became increasingly difficult to justify as costs rose, and occasional data limitations were creating additional work for processing teams.

“Cost was the primary factor for us,” says Sue Ann Scott, mortgage business analyst at First Financial. “When our verification invoices started coming in thousands and thousands of dollars higher than our credit report invoices, it really forced us to take a closer look at other options.”

At the same time, the data itself sometimes lacked the detail needed to move loans forward efficiently. Income and employment information could be incomplete or unclear, requiring manual follow-up and, in some cases, additional written verifications.

“Database verifications tend to lump multiple sources of income into a single ‘other income’ category or don’t provide all the details,” says Casey Davis, mortgage business analyst at First Financial. “We’d end up calling employers to fill in the gaps or ordering written verifications on top of it. It was just money and time.”

These challenges made it more difficult to consistently achieve representations and warranties (R&W) relief. As an active secondary market participant, First Financial needed a more reliable way to validate borrower data while maintaining the quality standards required by investors and government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs).

Solution

First Financial selected Argyle to modernize its approach to VOI and VOE, introducing a more flexible model that combines direct data connections with document-based income verification (Doc VOI) as a fallback.

Argyle enables borrowers to connect their payroll accounts to share income data directly. When payroll connections are not available, Argyle’s Doc VOI functionality extracts income information from documents such as pay stubs and W-2s, giving lenders a consistent way to verify borrower data across different scenarios. Argyle also enables borrowers to connect their financial accounts, allowing First Financial to verify assets (VOA) through the same borrower-permissioned workflow.

First Financial began implementation by integrating VOI, VOE and VOA into Encompass by ICE Mortgage Technology, its loan origination system (LOS). As the team became more familiar with Argyle’s capabilities, it refined that integration to better align with its workflow, moving VOI and VOE upstream into its point-of-sale (POS) platform, nCino, followed by VOA. This evolution allowed First Financial to reposition its verification strategy, making Argyle the primary method for VOI and VOE while reserving database verifications as a fallback.

“We have more success when borrowers verify at the point of sale, especially when it comes to assets,” Scott says. “It’s a small extra step, but the quality and completeness of the data make it well worth it.”

First Financial also worked closely with Argyle to guide teams through the transition from manual ordering to borrower-enabled verification. Ongoing support and training helped staff adopt the new process quickly while maintaining a smooth borrower experience.

“Argyle’s support team does a great job—anytime we send something over, they respond very quickly,” Scott says. “We’ve built a strong relationship with their team.”

Outcome

First Financial’s move to Argyle is delivering measurable results across cost, borrower engagement and loan quality:

60%+ reduction in verification costs

First Financial reduced its reliance on high-cost database verifications, lowering overall verification spend by more than 60%. While database verifications can cost over $140 per file, Argyle-based verifications often cost well under $50 when borrowers connect their accounts.

“It really changed how we think about verifications—we’re not defaulting to expensive reports anymore,” Scott says. “We have a much more efficient option built into our process.”

Consistent borrower connection rate of around 50%

First Financial has seen strong borrower engagement with Argyle’s verification flows, with approximately half of borrowers successfully connecting their accounts when prompted through the POS.

“A lot of it comes down to how we introduce it,” Scott says. “When our team sets expectations early, borrowers are much more willing to go through the connection process.”

Increased R&W relief with Doc VOI

First Financial has improved validation rates for R&W relief by using Argyle’s Doc VOI functionality to process borrower information. By extracting data directly from pay stubs and W-2s, the lender is able to achieve validation more consistently while reducing additional documentation steps such as ordering tax transcripts.

“With Doc VOI, we increased our rep and warrant relief significantly,” Davis says. “It’s helped us move files forward with more confidence and fewer follow-ups.”

By integrating Argyle into its POS and making it the primary method for verification, First Financial has modernized how it collects and validates borrower financial information. The result is a more efficient, scalable approach that reduces cost, improves data quality and supports stronger loan outcomes.

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