How should duplicate lender profiles be detected and merged?
Names can vary across directories, brands, legal entities, and country-specific records. Which identifiers are strong enough to flag a duplicate without merging distinct companies?
10 replies
Submission email domain is a strong signal, but shared platforms and parent companies mean it cannot be the only signal.
Compare official website, phone, address, legal entity, brand names, submission contacts, and guideline documents.
Two brands under one parent can still have different products and criteria, so preserve distinct profiles when users encounter them separately.
Should an exact submission email automatically merge records?
No. It should create a high-confidence review candidate. A reviewer confirms the canonical profile and relationship.
Public redirects matter so old profile URLs do not become dead links after a reviewed merge.
The merged record should retain source history and aliases so future imports match the canonical lender.
Never discard conflicting criteria during a merge; resolve whether they belong to different products or dates.
Claimed admins can help verify brand relationships, but ownership alone should not erase a valid product page.
Use multiple identifiers, require review, preserve aliases and provenance, and redirect retired duplicates safely.