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Hear from Greg Holmes, Chief Revenue Officer at Xactus, on how their partnership with Experian enhanced operations and client satisfaction.

Organizations must stay ahead of fraudsters by leveraging technology, training, and collaboration to combat synthetic ID fraud.

Take a deep dive into this month's economic and credit data, including trends in originations, job openings, and growth.

Browser fingerprinting, alongside other fraud prevention tools, can help businesses safeguard their operations and uphold customer trust.

We are squarely in the holiday shopping season. From the flurry of promotional emails to the endless shopping lists, there are many to-dos and even more opportunities for financial institutions at this time of year. The holiday shopping season is not just a peak period for consumer spending; it’s also a critical time for financial institutions to strategize, innovate, and drive value. According to the National Retail Federation, U.S. holiday retail sales are projected to approach $1 trillion in 2024, , and with an ever-evolving consumer behavior landscape, financial institutions need actionable strategies to stand out, secure loyalty, and drive growth during this period of heightened spending. Download our playbook: "How to prepare for the Holiday Shopping Season" Here’s how financial institutions can capitalize on the holiday shopping season, including key insights, actionable strategies, and data-backed trends. 1. Understand the holiday shopping landscape Key stats to consider: U.S. consumers spent $210 billion online during the 2022 holiday season, according to Adobe Analytics, marking a 3.5% increase from 2021. Experian data reveals that 31% of all holiday purchases in 2022 occurred in October, highlighting the extended shopping season. Cyber Week accounted for just 8% of total holiday spending, according to Experian’s Holiday Spending Trends and Insights Report, emphasizing the importance of a broad, season-long strategy. What this means for financial institutions: Timing is crucial. Your campaigns are already underway if you get an early start, and it’s critical to sustain them through December. Focus beyond Cyber Week. Develop long-term engagement strategies to capture spending throughout the season. 2. Leverage Gen Z’s growing spending power With an estimated $360 billion in disposable income, according to Bloomberg, Gen Z is a powerful force in the holiday market​. This generation values personalized, seamless experiences and is highly active online. Strategies to capture Gen Z: Offer digital-first solutions that enhance the holiday shopping journey, such as interactive portals or AI-powered customer support. Provide loyalty incentives tailored to this demographic, like cash-back rewards or exclusive access to services. Learn more about Gen Z in our State of Gen Z Report. To learn more about all generations' projected consumer spending, read new insights from Experian here, including 45% of Gen X and 52% of Boomers expect their spending to remain consistent with last year. 3. Optimize pre-holiday strategies Portfolio Review: Assess consumer behavior trends and adjust risk models to align with changing economic conditions. Identify opportunities to engage dormant accounts or offer tailored credit lines to existing customers. Actionable tactics: Expand offerings. Position your products and services with promotional campaigns targeting high-value segments. Personalize experiences. Use advanced analytics to segment clients and craft offers that resonate with their holiday needs or anticipate their possible post-holiday needs. 4. Ensure top-of-mind awareness During the holiday shopping season, competition to be the “top of wallet” is fierce. Experian’s data shows that 58% of high spenders shop evenly across the season, while 31% of average spenders do most of their shopping in December​. Strategies for success: Early engagement: Launch educational campaigns to empower credit education and identity protection during this period of increased transactions. Loyalty programs: Offer incentives, such as discounts or rewards, that encourage repeat engagement during the season. Omnichannel presence: Utilize digital, email, and event marketing to maintain visibility across platforms. 5. Combat fraud with multi-layered strategies The holiday shopping season sees an increase in fraud, with card testing being the number one attack vector in the U.S. according to Experian’s 2024 Identity and Fraud Study. Fraudulent activity such as identity theft and synthetic IDs can also escalate​. Fight tomorrow’s fraud today: Identity verification: Use advanced fraud detection tools, like Experian’s Ascend Fraud Sandbox, to validate accounts in real-time. Monitor dormant accounts: Watch these accounts with caution and assess for potential fraud risk. Strengthen cybersecurity: Implement multi-layered strategies, including behavioral analytics and artificial intelligence (AI), to reduce vulnerabilities. 6. Post-holiday follow-up: retain and manage risk Once the holiday rush is over, the focus shifts to managing potential payment stress and fostering long-term relationships. Post-holiday strategies: Debt monitoring: Keep an eye on debt-to-income and debt-to-limit ratios to identify clients at risk of defaulting. Customer support: Offer tailored assistance programs for clients showing signs of financial stress, preserving goodwill and loyalty. Fraud checks: Watch for first-party fraud and unusual return patterns, which can spike in January. 7. Anticipate consumer trends in the New Year The aftermath of the holidays often reveals deeper insights into consumer health: Rising credit balances: January often sees an uptick in outstanding balances, highlighting the need for proactive credit management. Shifts in spending behavior: According to McKinsey, consumers are increasingly cautious post-holiday, favoring savings and value-based spending. What this means for financial institutions: Align with clients’ needs for financial flexibility. The holiday shopping season is a time that demands precise planning and execution. Financial institutions can maximize their impact during this critical period by starting early, leveraging advanced analytics, and maintaining a strong focus on fraud prevention. And remember, success in the holiday season extends beyond December. Building strong relationships and managing risk ensures a smooth transition into the new year, setting the stage for continued growth. Ready to optimize your strategy? Contact us for tailored recommendations during the holiday season and beyond. Download the Holiday Shopping Season Playbook

Experian's latest GenAI solution empowers organizations to increase productivity, improve data visibility, and scale expertise.

Consumers' financial behaviors are constantly changing. Event triggers enable lenders to quickly respond before their portfolio takes a hit.

In the latest episode of “The Chrisman Commentary” podcast, Experian experts explore how lenders can navigate a tight mortgage market.

Our most recent AI innovation, Experian Assistant, is redefining how financial organizations improve productivity with data-driven insights.

How can lenders ensure they’re making the most accurate and fair lending decisions? The answer lies in consistent model validations.

Prescreen targeting solutions have evolved significantly, offering a competitive edge through more precise and impactful outreach strategies.

Here’s a snippet from our open banking webinar’s Q&A session with Ashley Knight, Senior Vice President of Product Management.

Take a deep dive into this month's economic and credit data, including trends in originations, retail sales, and consumer sentiment.

The Fed finally made their long-awaited rate cut. Hooray! The industry is saved! Brush off the dust everyone, it’s time to start originating mortgages like it’s 2006 again! Not so fast. While it's true that there are opportunities to take advantage of now that rates have declined, there remain open questions: How much further will rates decline? So far, only this single drop has been signaled. How many customers will realize benefit from a rate & term refinance offer given the rate drop(s)? What does this rate drop mean for the purchase market given that home prices remain at all-time highs? To put it simply, there are lending opportunities for home lenders (mortgage and home equity), but only for those with the ability to effectively leverage data and analytical strategies to identify and execute on the pockets of opportunity. By “pockets of opportunity,” we mean the following categories of consumers will benefit from specific mortgage or home equity offers. Rate & term refi: According to Experian research, over 83% of mortgages have an interest rate below 6.5%. This means that only the loans originated in the past couple of years (including one held by your author) will be eligible for a rate & term refi. The dollar amount on these loans will be high along with the interest rates, so even a minor savings on the interest rate will translate to potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars in lifetime interest savings for the borrowers. Being able to accurately identify which borrowers have an interest rate that is higher than the rate you can offer them is key to efficiently targeting and originating rate & term refinances. Cashout refi: Equity levels exploded over the past several years for homeowners. Home prices show no sign of slowing down and home equity continues to be a significant, and in many cases untapped, financial resource for borrowers. A cashout refi is an excellent option for those consumers with high amounts of available equity in their homes. Some borrowers may choose to originate a cashout refinance loan even if the interest rate is similar to their existing rate, such is the value of partially liquidating their equity position. Having the consumer-level data to identify what equity positions are and the current interest rate is crucial to crafting personalized, effective marketing offers. The ability to target qualified customers with a personalized offer is critical given that in August 2024, over 2.9 million cashout direct mail offers were mailed to consumers.1 Streamlined refi: The VA and FHA have streamlined refinance programs that minimize the consumer lift to refinance their loan. Additionally, there are also non-VA and FHA loans that could benefit from what is called an “Express Title,” which removes the need for a full title workup and expedites the originations process. Borrowers that meet the criteria for these streamlined refinance offers can be identified using credit data. Since these refinances are easier for consumers, they will be more likely to respond and book a refinance offer, which means more ROI for your marketing spend. Home equity lines/loans: Similar to cashout refi, home equity products are an option for consumers to access the equity they have in their price-appreciated homes. Although this is no mystery to most lenders, many lenders do not leverage adequate data or analytics to identify the needle in the haystack of customers that still remain to be targeted. Experian data shows over $25B in monthly HELOC originations as of August 2024. Understanding which consumers have a second lien position available, how much equity they have by leveraging trade-level mortgage data and Automated Valuation Model (AVM) data, and other methods can help your home equity products stand out from the sea of offers in the mail and online. At Experian, we help our clients target and originate all four categories of borrowers: rate & term refinancers, cashout refinancers, streamlined refinancers, and home equity borrowers. Crafting a marketing strategy with the accurate data to precisely identify which consumers qualify for which product is crucial to making the most of your marketing spend. Without the guidance of such data and the personalized offers they enable, your marketing message is liable to be lost among all of the other direct mail and email blasts. Market with confidence Crafting an effective holistic marketing strategy across these segments is crucial to campaign success. Consider these borrower situations and prepare to respond with confidence: Does the consumer have a high interest rate? Would the consumer benefit from a quick rate & term refi? If yes, ship the offer out. Does the consumer have a significant equity position and outstanding revolving debt balances, but not qualify for a rate & term due to a relatively low rate? If yes, ship them a cashout refi offer with language about using their equity to pay off revolving debt. Does the consumer meet the criteria for a streamlined refi, and would they benefit financially from such an offer? If yes, ship them a VA IRRRL (Interest Rate Reduction Refinance Loan), FHA streamline, or an offer to cover their refi title expenses if they qualify for an express title. Does the consumer have an open second lien on their primary residence, but not qualify for either kind of refi? If yes, ship them a home equity offer. By creating this kind of specialized marketing waterfall, lenders can ensure they have valuable offers for all borrowers, not just for a specialized market. Such strategies allow you to target your existing portfolio or a prospect population to facilitate portfolio growth and prevent portfolio attrition. Be sure to join our upcoming webinar, "Return of the Refi: Top Lending Strategies for Becoming a Refi Master." Register now and learn more about how Experian can help you win more mortgage and home equity customers in this declining rate environment. Register now Learn more 1 Mintel data

With fraudsters continuously refining their methods, fintechs must invest in advanced fintech fraud detection and prevention solutions.