ProofUp

Landlords and property managers who need to vet a rental applicant quickly are the people ProofUp is built for.

ProofUp is a tenant screening tool that checks an applicant's identity and income, then flags signs of fraud using machine learning models.

That covers the two things most likely to go wrong with a rental application: a fake person or a padded paystub.

Identity checks use ID verification with facial recognition, so the face on the document can be matched to the applicant.

Income is confirmed through Plaid, which connects to the applicant's bank account instead of relying on documents they upload.

That is a sensible approach, though it has a catch.

Because ProofUp depends on Plaid for bank access, applicants whose banks or accounts Plaid cannot reach may be harder to screen.

Fraud detection is only as good as the models behind it, and those need regular updating to keep pace with new tricks.

ProofUp is geared toward speeding up approval decisions, which suits anyone handling a steady stream of applications.