Consumer insights and credit scoring company Equifax has partnered with Castlight this week to launch a mortgage affordability platform. The new system aims to help brokers reduce the mortgage application process to 10 minutes.

The platform helps mortgage brokers underwrite loans more efficiently by enabling applicants to grant the lender an Affordability Passport that allows them to view the applicant’s credit score and spending history. The passport gives brokers access to the client’s real-time financial data, which offers a granular view into how the potential borrower manages credit and shows their overall financial standing. Birmingham, U.K.-based Paradigm Mortgage Services will be one of the first distributors of the new platform.

Jake Ranson, Banking & Financial Institutions Director at Equifax U.K., described the new offering as “something unique to the market” and said it will “help customers have more control over their data and… make it easier for the financial services industry to make use of data.”

This is just one example of a larger trend we’ve seen in the burgeoning real estate or mortgage tech sector of the fintech industry. Other innovators in this space include Sindeo (FF16, FDSV16), Envestnet|Yodlee (FF16), Roostify (FS16), Kofax (FS16), Hip Pocket (FS15), Tactile Finance (FS14), Mortgage Harmony (FF12), Mortgagebot (FF10), eyeOpen (FEU13), and Blend (FS16, FDSV 16).

Headquartered in Atlanta, Equifax was recently listed on Forbes’ list of 100 Most Innovative Public Companies. The company is also one of 49 public fintech companies listed on the KBW Nasdaq Financial Technology Index. Equifax debuted new features for its mobile app at FinovateFall 2011 in New York.