In this episode, host Timothy Li (CEO, LendAPI) talks with Jay Shah of CRS Credit API — a licensed Consumer Reporting Agency (CRA) built to make regulated financial data easy for fintechs and lenders to access.
Jay breaks down what "regulated data" actually means, why the FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act) protects consumer credit data, and what separates a licensed CRA from a data broker. He explains how CRS connects lenders to 200+ products across Experian, TransUnion, Equifax, LexisNexis, CoreLogic, Finicity, SoCure and more — all through a single integration, with onboarding down to about four days.
What You'll Learn:
Why regulated consumer data exists, and what the FCRA protects
What a CRA license actually requires, and why so few companies have one
How CRS lets lenders pull credit, identity, and fraud data through one API instead of onboarding each bureau separately
Why some lenders want more data (full reports, fraud, business checks) while others want less — just the 3-5 attributes that matter for fast, high-volume decisions
How silent, low-friction identity verification (phone + device signals) is replacing long PII forms without hurting match rates
How a non-technical client used AI tools to build a working underwriting engine directly on top of CRS's API
CRS's "sales karma" philosophy — advising fintechs on compliant, cost-efficient data flows instead of just selling products
About CRS Credit API
CRS is a licensed Consumer Reporting Agency built by CEO Stephen Hawkins, a 30+ year veteran of the credit bureau industry, to give fintechs and lenders fast, compliant access to regulated data. Jay Shah leads business development, having previously worked in fintech sales at Forward Lane. CRS partners directly with the major bureaus and specialty data vendors, offering a single onboarding process, a real-time onboarding portal, and flexible product bundles for lenders of every size — from single-founder startups to major banks.
Learn more: crscreditapi.com
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