CUSTOMER: PADSPLIT

Making housing accessible

The United States is in the midst of a housing crisis, with a shortage of more than 7 million affordable homes for the country’s lowest income earners. In fact, no state has enough affordable rental housing for their economically vulnerable populations.

That’s where PadSplit comes in. Founded in 2017 by Atticus LeBlanc, the co-living marketplace provides safe, cost-effective housing for low-income workers. The award-winning model enables members to find flexible, long-term housing that includes furniture, utilities, and easy access to public transit.

And it does so without requiring a security deposit or minimum credit score—a frequent barrier for this particular income bracket. Instead, PadSplit looks at comprehensive bank account data including income. They initially verified this through a manual process that took up to five days to complete—an eternity for someone in immediate need of housing.

That’s when they turned to Plaid.

Income verification simplified

To become a PadSplit member, applicants first provide basic information like their name and address, through which the company verifies their identity and runs a background check. Once this step is completed successfully, PadSplit moves on to income verification—which is where Plaid comes in. 

Prior to Plaid, income verification meant obtaining physical proof of income, ranging from a W2 or pay stub to a disability letter from the government. If you were a gig worker, you were forced to rely on manual methods like taking screenshots of your gig app or writing down your income. Missing or incorrect documents could take days or more to rectify if the applicant chose to stick around at all. 

With Plaid, applicants simply select the financial institution where their income is deposited and enter the username and password for the associated account, allowing PadSplit to see their income directly at the source. And because Plaid now connects to more than 12,000 financial institutions globally–often in a matter of seconds–companies like PadSplit are able to reach more users in more places than ever before.

Unlocking new markets

As a company, PadSplit is a geographic specific housing marketplace. While they’ve experienced tremendous growth where they’re based in Atlanta, they’ve recently begun to expand to new markets including Florida and Texas.

With each new market comes new types of members with their own set of needs. For example, certain markets have an overwhelming need for housing among students and freelancers which requires a more tailored approach to verifying income.

Plaid is helping PadSplit meet these challenges head on while unlocking new opportunities each step of the way.