SAN FRANCISCO — February 12, 2026
Executive Summary
Blend Labs, Inc. announced the expansion of its deep verification capabilities to accelerate mortgage origination workflows and improve borrower experience for lenders. The company enhanced its Verification of Income and Employment (VOIE) solution through its partnership with Truework and introduced supplemental asset reports within its Verification of Assets (VOA) offering to support compliance with pre-closing verification requirements. According to Blend, the expanded capabilities are designed to reduce manual processes, streamline verification workflows, and increase confidence in closing timelines. The updates reflect the company’s continued investment in digital verification infrastructure for banks, credit unions, fintechs, and mortgage lenders using its origination platform.
Announcement Overview
Blend Labs, Inc. (NYSE: BLND), a digital origination platform serving financial institutions, announced enhancements to its income and asset verification capabilities. The expansion centers on two core updates: an enhancement to its Verification of Income and Employment solution powered by Truework, and the introduction of supplemental asset reports within its Verification of Assets workflow.
According to the company, the enhanced VOIE capability now includes Truework’s Smart Outreach functionality, which provides an automated approach for handling non-instant verifications. The addition of Smart Outreach is intended to reduce manual outreach tasks traditionally performed by loan officers and processors when verifying borrower income and employment.
In parallel, Blend introduced supplemental asset reports to support lenders in satisfying the 10-day pre-closing Verification of Employment (VOE) guideline. The company stated that this enhancement allows lenders to use electronic data sources rather than manual documentation processes when verifying employment during the pre-close stage.
Blend positioned the updates as part of its broader strategy to support operational efficiency, reduce friction for borrowers, and help lenders maintain closing timelines in a mortgage environment where speed and transparency are critical.
Key Announcement Details
- Announcement type: Product capability expansion and workflow enhancement within digital mortgage origination
- Public company: Blend Labs, Inc.
- Stock exchange listing: New York Stock Exchange
- Ticker symbol: BLND
- Headquarters: San Francisco, California, United States
- Sector: Financial Technology (Fintech)
- Industry vertical: Digital lending and mortgage origination infrastructure
- Core platform category: End-to-end digital origination platform for banks, credit unions, fintech lenders, and independent mortgage banks
- Primary enhancement category: Verification infrastructure expansion
- Enhanced solution 1: Verification of Income and Employment (VOIE)
- VOIE partner: Truework
- Newly integrated feature: Smart Outreach manual verification automation
- Smart Outreach function: Automated handling of non-instant employment and income verifications
- Operational shift enabled: Reduction of manual employer phone and email outreach
- Direct beneficiaries: Loan officers, processors, underwriting operations teams
- Workflow impact: Decreased manual documentation, reduced verification latency, increased operational throughput
- Performance metrics disclosed:
- 55 percent of VOIE reports completed within 24 hours
- 87 percent of VOIE reports completed within 72 hours
- Enhanced solution 2: Verification of Assets (VOA)
- New capability within VOA: Supplemental Asset Reports
- Regulatory/compliance alignment: Supports satisfaction of 10-day Pre-Closing Verification of Employment (VOE) guideline
- Verification method transition: From manual paper-based employer documentation to electronic data-driven verification
- Compliance stage impacted: Pre-closing verification
- Operational objective: Increase certainty of “clear to close” status and scheduled closing dates
- Target market: U.S. mortgage lenders and financial institutions utilizing Blend’s origination platform
- User segments: Large banks, regional banks, credit unions, fintech lenders, independent mortgage banks
- Strategic objective: Streamline home lending originations and reduce borrower friction
- Product positioning: Best-in-class income and asset verification capabilities integrated within a unified origination platform
- Broader market context referenced:
- Borrower experience ranked comparable to interest rate competitiveness
- Customer satisfaction declines with closing delays
- Increased prevalence of mixed and nontraditional income sources among workforce
- Announcement timestamp: February 12, 2026
Verification of Income and Employment Enhancements
Blend enhanced its Verification of Income and Employment capability by integrating Truework’s Smart Outreach functionality into its existing workflow. According to the company, Smart Outreach provides an automated method for handling income and employment verifications that cannot be completed instantly through existing digital data sources.
Traditionally, when income or employment data cannot be verified electronically in real time, mortgage operations teams must contact employers directly through phone calls or email correspondence. This process introduces latency, manual documentation, and operational overhead. Blend stated that the Smart Outreach solution reduces the need for these manual workflows by automating outreach processes in non-instant verification cases.
The company reported that the integration eliminates the requirement for loan officers and processors to directly call or email employers in many scenarios. By centralizing and automating verification outreach, Blend indicated that lenders can unlock operational capacity and redirect time toward higher-value borrower engagement and loan processing activities.
Blend also disclosed performance benchmarks associated with its VOIE process. According to company data, 55 percent of VOIE reports are completed in under 24 hours, and 87 percent are completed within 72 hours. These turnaround times are intended to help lenders maintain closing timelines and reduce the risk of delays during underwriting and pre-close review stages.
The company positioned the enhanced VOIE capability as particularly relevant in an environment where borrowers increasingly have mixed income sources, nontraditional employment arrangements, or multiple streams of earnings. According to Blend, the ability to handle edge cases without introducing additional friction is central to maintaining origination efficiency.
Verification of Assets and Supplemental Asset Reports
In addition to enhancements to VOIE, Blend announced the introduction of supplemental asset reports within its Verification of Assets offering. The company stated that these reports support lenders in satisfying the 10-day pre-closing Verification of Employment guideline, which requires lenders to confirm borrower employment status shortly before closing.
Historically, lenders have relied on manual documentation to satisfy pre-closing verification requirements. This may involve requesting written verification forms or making direct employer contact, creating administrative overhead and introducing potential scheduling delays.
Blend stated that its supplemental asset reports use electronic data sources to confirm employment during the pre-close stage. By leveraging digital verification rather than manual paperwork, the company indicated that lenders can streamline compliance processes while maintaining confidence in closing readiness.
According to Blend, the expanded VOA process increases certainty around “clear to close” decisions and projected closing dates. The company noted that improving predictability in closing timelines is particularly important in mortgage lending, where borrower satisfaction can be influenced by perceived delays.
Operational Efficiency and Borrower Experience Context
Blend cited research indicating that borrower perception of lender experience is closely tied to speed and transparency. The company referenced a McKinsey study suggesting that a lender’s reputation for exceptional customer experience ranks comparably to interest rate considerations for borrowers. Additionally, Blend referenced a Gitnux report stating that customer satisfaction declines by approximately 10 points for each delay beyond an originally estimated closing date.
Within this context, Blend framed its verification enhancements as operational infrastructure designed to reduce bottlenecks and improve predictability. The company indicated that verification processes are often a primary source of origination delays, particularly when manual outreach or documentation is required.
By automating income and asset verification workflows and integrating digital data sources, Blend stated that it aims to reduce friction for both lenders and borrowers. The company characterized its investments in verification capabilities as part of a broader product roadmap focused on continuous innovation in mortgage origination.
Leadership Commentary
“Expanding Verification of Income and Verification of Assets capabilities is another demonstration of how Blend is dedicated to delivering best-in-class products while shouldering the tech lift so our clients experience only the value,” said Nima Ghamsari, co-founder and Head of Blend. “We have built an offering that’s an appreciating asset, and I am proud of the focused, disciplined investments into partnerships, workflows, and products such as VOI and VOA that accelerate Blend customers’ pace of innovation in mortgage lending.”
Ghamsari also addressed the evolving complexity of borrower income profiles. “As more of the workforce has mixed income sources and nontraditional earnings, the VOIE process is more important than ever,” he said. “Adding manual verification of income without slowing down the loan timeframe is a game changer. Coupled with Blend’s expanded VOA process, it reduces friction and latency for lenders, takes the burden off internal teams to verify edge cases, improves workflows, and demonstrates continuous innovation in home lending.”
Market and Industry Implications
Blend’s enhancements arrive in a mortgage market characterized by competitive pressure, operational cost scrutiny, and heightened borrower expectations. Lenders increasingly rely on digital origination platforms to streamline underwriting and compliance processes while managing fluctuating origination volumes.
Income and asset verification are foundational components of mortgage underwriting. Delays in verification can affect underwriting timelines, rate locks, and borrower satisfaction. According to Blend, the ability to automate both instant and non-instant verification cases represents a structural improvement in workflow efficiency.
The integration of third-party data providers such as Truework also reflects broader industry trends toward API-driven verification ecosystems. By embedding verification directly within origination platforms, lenders can reduce the need for separate vendor portals and disconnected workflows.
Blend positioned its expanded capabilities as part of a long-term strategy to integrate verification, workflow automation, and borrower experience optimization into a unified origination infrastructure.
Forward-Looking Statements
This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements related to product capabilities, roadmap expectations, and market impact. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of future performance. Actual results may differ materially due to various factors described in Blend’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Blend undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements except as required by law.
About Blend Labs, Inc.
Blend Labs, Inc. (NYSE: BLND) was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California. The company operates a digital origination platform designed to power banking and mortgage workflows for financial institutions. Blend’s platform supports banks, credit unions, fintech companies, and independent mortgage banks in digitizing loan applications, streamlining underwriting processes, and improving borrower experiences.
Since its founding, Blend has expanded its platform to serve a broad range of financial products, including mortgages, home equity lines of credit, personal loans, auto loans, deposit accounts, and other consumer banking solutions. The company went public in July 2021 and trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol BLND.
Blend’s customer base includes large national banks, regional banks, credit unions, and nonbank mortgage lenders across the United States. The platform integrates data sources, workflow automation tools, compliance frameworks, and third-party partnerships to enable end-to-end digital origination experiences.
The company’s verification capabilities, including Verification of Income, Verification of Employment, and Verification of Assets, are components of its broader origination ecosystem. Blend continues to invest in product enhancements, partnerships, and automation infrastructure to support operational efficiency and borrower experience improvements within financial services.
Media Contacts
For additional information, visit blend.com.
Source Attribution
Source: Company announcement