Financial Services
In today’s age of digital transformation, consumers have easy access to a variety of innovative financial products and services. From lending to payments to wealth management and more, there is no shortage in the breadth of financial products gaining popularity with consumers. But one market segment in particular – unsecured personal loans – has grown exceptionally fast. According to a recent Experian study, personal loan originations have increased 97% over the past four years, with fintech share rapidly increasing from 22.4% of total loans originated to 49.4%. Arguably, the rapid acceleration in personal loans is heavily driven by the rise in digital-first lending options, which have grown in popularity due to fintech challengers. Fintechs have earned their position in the market by leveraging data, advanced analytics and technology to disrupt existing financial models. Meanwhile, traditional financial institutions (FIs) have taken notice and are beginning to adopt some of the same methods and alternative credit approaches. With this evolution of technology fused with financial services, how are fintechs faring against traditional FIs? The below infographic uncovers industry trends and key metrics in unsecured personal installment loans: Still curious? Click here to download our latest eBook, which further uncovers emerging trends in personal loans through side-by-side comparisons of fintech and traditional FI market share, portfolio composition, customer profiles and more. Download now
Experian has been named one of the 10 participants, and only credit bureau, in the initial rollout of the SSA's new eCBSV service.
Today is National Fintech Day – a day that recognizes the ever-important role that fintech companies play in revolutionizing the customer experience and altering the financial services landscape. Fintech. The word itself has become synonymous with constant innovation, agile technology structures and being on the cusp of the future of finance. Fintech challengers are disrupting existing financial models by leveraging data, advanced analytics and technology – both inspiring traditional financial institutions in their digital transformation strategies and giving consumers access to a variety of innovative financial products and services. But to us at Experian, National Fintech Day means more than just financial disruption. National Fintech Day represents the partnerships we have carefully fostered with our fintech clients to drive financial inclusion for millions of people around the globe and provide consumers with greater control and more opportunities to access the quality credit they deserve. “We are actively seeking out unresolved problems and creating products and technologies that will help transform the way businesses operate and consumers thrive in our society. But we know we can’t do it alone,” said Experian North American CEO, Craig Boundy in a recent blog article on Experian’s fintech partnerships. “That’s why over the last year, we have built out an entire team of account executives and other support staff that are fully dedicated to developing and supporting partnerships with leading fintech companies. We’ve made significant strides that will help us pave the way for the next generation of lending while improving the financial health of people around the world.” At Experian, we understand the challenges fintechs face – and our real-world solutions help fintech clients stay ahead of constantly changing market conditions and demands. “Experian’s pace of innovation is very impressive – we are helping both lenders and consumers by delivering technological solutions that make the lending ecosystem more efficient,” said Experian Senior Account Executive Warren Linde. “Financial technology is arguably the most important type of tech out there, it is an honor to be a part of Experian’s fintech team and help to create a better tomorrow.” If you’d like to learn more about Experian’s fintech solutions, visit us at Experian.com/Fintech.
Earlier this year, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to implement the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). The proposal, which will go into deliberation in September and won\'t be finalized until after that date at the earliest, would provide consumers with clear-cut protections against disturbance by debt collectors and straightforward options to address or dispute debts. Additionally, the NPRM would set strict limits on the number of calls debt collectors may place to reach consumers weekly, as well as clarify how collectors may communicate lawfully using technologies developed after the FDCPA’s passage in 1977. So, what does this mean for collectors? The compliance conundrum is ever present, especially in the debt collection industry. Debt collectors are expected to continuously adapt to changing regulations, forcing them to spend time, energy and resources on maintaining compliance. As the most recent onslaught of developments and proposed new rules have been pushed out to the financial community, compliance professionals are once again working to implement changes. According to the Federal Register, here are some key ways the new regulation would affect debt collection: Limited to seven calls: Debt collectors would be limited to attempting to reach out to consumers by phone about a specific debt no more than seven times per week. Ability to unsubscribe: Consumers who do not wish to be contacted via newer technologies, including voicemails, emails and text messages must be given the option to opt-out of future communications. Use of newer technologies: Newer communication technologies, such as emails and text messages, may be used in debt collection, with certain limitations to protect consumer privacy. Required disclosures: Debt collectors will be obligated to send consumers a disclosure with certain information about the debt and related consumer protections. Limited contact: Consumers will be able to limit ways debt collectors contact them, for example at a specific telephone number, while they are at work or during certain hours. Now that you know the details, how can you prepare? At Experian, we understand the importance of an effective collections strategy. Our debt collection solutions automate and moderate dialogues and negotiations between consumers and collectors, making it easier for collection agencies to reach consumers while staying compliant. Powerful locating solution: Locate past-due consumers more accurately, efficiently and effectively. TrueTraceSM adds value to each contact by increasing your right-party contact rate. Exclusive contact information: Mitigate your compliance risk with a seamless and unparalleled solution. With Phone Number IDTM, you can identify who a phone is registered to, the phone type, carrier and the activation date. If you aren’t ready for the new CFPB regulation, what are you waiting for? Learn more Note: Click here for an update on the CFPB\'s proposal.
Big Data, once thought to be overhyped consultant-speak, is now a term and business model so ubiquitous it underpins billions of dollars in revenue across nearly every industry. Similarly, the advanced analytics derived from big data are key to staying relevant in an everchanging global economy and to consumers with expanding expectations. But for many financial institutions, using big data and advanced analytics seemed to only be in reach for big banks with large, advanced data teams. With the expansion of the Experian Ascend Technology PlatformTM, the conversation is changing. Financial institutions of all sizes can now leverage advanced analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning with new configurations in the award-winning platform. In a release earlier this week, Experian announced new tools and configurations in the Ascend Analytical SandboxTM to fit teams of every size and skill level. Now fintechs, banks and credit unions of every size can have access to Experian’s one-stop source for advanced analytics, business intelligence and ultimately, better decisions. The secure hybrid-cloud environment allows users to combine their own data sets with Experian’s exclusive data assets, including credit, alternative, commercial, auto and more. From there, users can build and test models across different stages of the lending cycle, including originations, prescreen, account management and collections, and seamlessly put their models into production. Experian’s Ascend Analytical Sandbox also allows users to benchmark their portfolios against the industry, identify credit trends and explore new product opportunities. All the insights gathered through the Ascend Analytical Sandbox can be viewed and shared through interactive dashboards and customizable reports that can be pulled in near real time. Additional use cases include: Reject inferencing – refine models, scorecards and strategies by analyzing trades opened by previous applicants who were rejected or approved but did not move forward Prescreen campaigns – design prescreen campaigns, evaluate results and improve strategies Cross-sell – identify cross-sell opportunities for existing customers and identify how they may be working with other lenders Collections strategies, stress testing and loss forecasting – build stronger models to identify customers that have ability and willingness to pay debts, stress test and forecast loss Peer benchmarking and industry trends – compare current portfolio against peers and the industry Recession planning – identify areas to adjust your portfolio to prepare for an economic downturn OneMain Financial, a large provider of personal installment loans serving 10 million total customers across more than 1,700 branches, turned to Experian to improve its risk modeling and credit portfolio management capabilities with the Ascend Analytical Sandbox. Since using the solution, the company has seen significant improvements in reject inferencing – a process that is traditionally expensive, manually-intensive and time consuming. According to OneMain Financial, the Ascend Analytical Sandbox has shortened the process to less than two weeks from up to 180 days. \"Experian\'s Ascend Technology Platform and Analytical Sandbox is an industry gamechanger,\" said Michael Kortering, OneMain Financial\'s Senior Managing Director and Head of Model Development. \"We\'re completing analyses that just weren\'t possible before and we\'re getting decisions to our clients faster, without compromising risk.” For more information on Ascend Analytical Sandbox SX – the latest solution for financial institutions of all sizes – or other enterprise-wide capabilities of the Experian Ascend Technology Platform, click here.
The fact that the last recession started right as smartphones were introduced to the world gives some perspective into how technology has changed over the past decade. Organizations need to leverage the same technological advancements, such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, to improve their collections strategies. These advanced analytics platforms and technologies can be used to gauge customer preferences, as well as automate the collections process. When faced with higher volumes of delinquent loans, some organizations rapidly hire inexperienced staff. With new analytical advancements, organizations can reduce overhead and maintain compliance through the collections process. Additionally, advanced analytics and technology can help manage customers throughout the customer life cycle. Let’s explore further: Why use advanced analytics in collections? Collections strategies demand diverse approaches, which is where analytics-based strategies and collections models come into play. As each customer and situation differs, machine learning techniques and constraint-based optimization can open doors for your organization. By rethinking collections outreach beyond static classifications (such as the stage of account delinquency) and instead prioritizing accounts most likely to respond to each collections treatment, you can create an improved collections experience. How does collections analytics empower your customers? Customer engagement, carefully considered, perhaps comprises the most critical aspect of a collections program—especially given historical perceptions of the collections process. Experian recently analyzed the impact of traditional collections methods and found that three percent of card portfolios closed their accounts after paying their balances in full. And 75 percent of those closures occurred shortly after the account became current. Under traditional methods, a bank may collect outstanding debt but will probably miss out on long-term customer loyalty and future revenue opportunities. Only effective technology, modeling and analytics can move us from a linear collections approach towards a more customer-focused treatment while controlling costs and meeting other business objectives. Advanced analytics and machine learning represent the most important advances in collections. Furthermore, powerful digital innovations such as better criteria for customer segmentation and more effective contact strategies can transform collections operations, while improving performance and raising customer service standards at a lower cost. Empowering consumers in a digital, safe and consumer-centric environment affects the complete collections agenda—beginning with prevention and management of bad debt and extending through internal and external account resolution. When should I get started? It’s never too early to assess and modernize technology within collections—as well as customer engagement strategies—to produce an efficient, innovative game plan. Smarter decisions lead to higher recovery rates, automation and self-service tools reduce costs and a more comprehensive customer view enhances relationships. An investment today can minimize the negative impacts of the delinquency challenges posed by a potential recession. Collections transformation has already begun, with organizations assembling data and developing algorithms to improve their existing collections processes. In advance of the next recession, two options present themselves: to scramble in a reactive manner or approach collections proactively. Which do you choose? Get started
Have you seen the latest Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) class action lawsuit? TCPA litigations in the communications, energy and media industries are dominating the headlines, with companies paying up to millions of dollars in damages. Consumer disputes have increased more than 500 percent in the past five years, and regulations continue to tighten. Now more than ever, it’s crucial to build effective and cost-efficient contact strategies. But how? First, know your facts. Second, let us help. What is the TCPA? As you’re aware, TCPA aims to safeguard consumer privacy by regulating telephone solicitations and the use of prerecorded messages, auto-dialed calls, text messages and unsolicited faxes. The rule has been amended and more tightly defined over time. Why is TCPA compliance important? Businesses found guilty of violating TCPA regulations face steep penalties – fines range from $500 to $1500 per individual infraction! Companies have been delivered hefty penalties upwards of hundreds of thousands, and in some cases, millions of dollars. Many have questions and are seeking to understand how they might adjust their policies and call practices. How can you protect yourself? To help avoid risk for compliance violations, it’s integral to assess call strategies and put best practices in place to increase right-party contact rates. Strategies to gain compliance and mitigate risk include: Focus on right and wrong-party contact to improve customer service: Monitoring and verifying consumer contact information can seem like a tedious task, but with the right combination of data, including skip tracing data from consumer credit data, alternative and other exclusive data sources, past-due consumers can be located faster. Scrub often for updated or verified information: Phone numbers can continuously change, and they’re only one piece of a consumer’s contact information. Verifying contact information for TCPA compliance with a partner you can trust can help make data quality routine. Determine when and how often you dial cell phones: Or, given new considerations proposed by the CFPB, consider looking at collections via your consumers’ preferred communication channel – online vs. over the phone. Provide consumers user-friendly mechanisms to opt-out of receiving communications At Experian, our TCPA solutions can help you monitor and verify consumer contact information, locate past-due consumers, improve your right-party contact rates and automate your collections process. Get started
Digital channels undoubtedly create convenient experiences for consumers. We have the luxury of applying for loans or creating investment accounts from the comfort of home. However, the same opportunities are available to fraudsters. Fraudsters continue to find creative and innovative ways to expose vulnerabilities across all types of businesses. They prey on inexperienced or low-bandwidth teams that have not invested in the appropriate fraud tools in the past. Despite the imminent fraud risk involved, both consumers and businesses continue to embrace digital channels. With 90 percent of consumers worldwide conducting personal banking online, how do we protect these digital platforms with finite resources? A leading digital financial services company was forced to address this question when they experienced a large-scale fraud attack. But they weren’t in this fight alone. Download the full case study to see how our risk analyst used FraudNet to prevent millions of dollars in fraudulent funding. Client: A leading digital financial services company that operates with zero in-person branches with more than 7,000 employees Challenge/Objective: In October 2018, fraudsters deployed a large-scale, scripted attack against a North American financial services company. The fraud team was extremely understaffed. The fraud team was unable to detect and respond to the attack quickly. The fraudulent account opening activities eventually blended into account takeovers. Resolution: Our risk analyst worked quickly to analyze the geolocation, velocity and device rules firing within FraudNet for Account Opening. By having these rules in place, FraudNet was able to flag and outsort thousands of suspicious applications. Despite being a small team, the fraud investigators were able to work efficiently within the FraudNet workbench and review the true, high-risk applications. Results: Thanks to our risk analyst’s quick remediation and the FraudNet proprietary device rules: 23,800 fraudulent applications were outsorted for review. An estimated $35.7 million in fraudulent funding was prevented. However, the fight against fraud is ongoing. Our risk analyst continues to work closely with the fraud team to develop an effective strategy to prepare against future attacks.
Preparation is key – whether you’re an amateur/professional sports, free-soloing up El Capitan, or business contingency planning as part of a recession readiness strategy. It’s not so much predicting when events will occur, or trying to foresee and pivot for every possible outcome, but rather, acting now so that your business can act faster and smarter in the future. There are certain priorities that have come to be associated with what are widely accepted as the three environments the economy can sustain at any one time: As with recessions throughout the country’s history, those periods have often been characterized by layoffs, charge-offs, delinquencies, and other behaviors as the economy turns to a counter-cycle environment. Rather than wait to implement reactive strategies , the time to manage accounts, plan, stress test and implement contingency plans for when the next economic correction comes, is now. While economists and financial services industry experts argue over when a recession will hit and how severe its implications may be (in comparison with the Great Recession of 2008), there’s a need to start tactical business discussions now. Even in the face of a strong economy, that has seen high employment levels and increased spending, 45% of Americans (112.5 million) say they do not have enough savings to cover at least three months of living expenses, according to a 2018 survey by the Center for Financial Services Innovation. Regardless of the economic environment – pro-cycle, counter-cycle, and cycle-neutral – those statistics paint an alarming picture of consumers\' financial health as a whole. These are four crucial considerations you should be taking now: Create individualized treatments while reducing manual interactions Meet the growing expectation for digital consumer self-service Understand your customer to ensure fair treatment React quickly and effectively to market changes While it may not be on the immediate horizon just yet, it’s important to prepare. For more information, including portfolio mixes, collections considerations and macroeconomic trends, download our latest white paper on recession readiness. Download white paper now
It\'s been over 10 years since the start of the Great Recession. However, its widespread effects are still felt today. While the country has rebounded in many ways, its economic damage continues to influence consumers. Discover the Great Recession’s impact across generations: Americans of all ages have felt the effects of the Great Recession, making it imperative to begin recession proofing and better prepare for the next economic downturn. There are several steps your organization can take to become recession resistant and help your customers overcome personal financial difficulties. Are you ready should the next recession hit? Get started today
If you’ve seen an uptick in photos of friends and celebrities looking older with wrinkles on your social media feeds, you’re not alone. A new free photo editor has taken the internet by a storm, featuring an AI-powered image-altering application that allows users to see their “future self.” All you have to do is upload a single photo (or few) from your camera roll to be enhanced. While this may seem like harmless fun, the app is now making headlines over increased privacy concerns about what occurs behind the scenes once users submit their selfies. Red flags were raised when multiple alleged negative implications were connected to the app – including the app’s ownership and the potential risk that the app downloaded a user’s entire photo album onto their database. In fact, the privacy concerns also prompted Democratic Party officials to implore federal agencies, including the FBI, “to look into the potential national security and privacy risks the phone app poses to the United States.” Since then, the app’s creators have addressed these concerns, stating most of the photo processing occurs in the cloud and most photos are deleted within 48 hours. Additionally, the only photos uploaded are ones that have been personally submitted by the user. Regardless, a database of user-submitted photos could be seen as a goldmine to fraudsters. In a time where personal and biometric data (including facial recognition) are some of the key ways to validate security, it’s important for consumers to be aware of how and where they’re sharing their data, whether it’s for an age-progression photo app, or their financial accounts. Consumers, businesses, financial institutions – everyone – should exhibit caution and take measures to ensure personal information remains secure and is not being used for nefarious reasons. While consumers may be aware that businesses are collecting data, companies should take steps to form digital trust with transparency. This could be achieved by: Educating consumers on how their data is being used Effectively communicating privacy policies and service terms more concisely Helping consumers feel in control of their information To learn more about research that indicates a shift to advanced authentication methods (including biometrics), fraud trends and how to combat them, download our e-book. Download Now
Would you hire a new employee strictly by their resume? Surely not – there’s so much more to a candidate than what’s written on paper. With that being said, why would you determine your consumers’ creditworthiness based only on their traditional credit score? Resumes don’t always give you the full picture behind an applicant and can only tell a part of someone’s story, just as a traditional credit score can also be a limited view of your consumers. And lenders agree – findings from Experian’s 2019 State of Alternative Credit Data revealed that 65% of lenders are already leveraging information beyond the traditional credit report to make lending decisions. So in addition to the resume, hiring managers should look into a candidate’s references, which are typically used to confirm a candidate’s positive attributes and qualities. For lenders, this is alternative credit data. References are supplemental but essential to the resume, and allow you to gain new information to expand your view into a candidate – synonymous to alternative credit data’s role when it comes to lending. Lenders are tasked with evaluating their consumers to determine their stability and creditworthiness in an effort to prevent and reduce risk. While traditional credit data contains core information about a consumer’s credit data, it may not be enough for a lender to formulate a full and complete evaluation of the consumer. And for over 45 million Americans, the issue of having no credit history or a “thin” credit history is the equivalent of having a resume with little to no listed work experience. Alternative credit data helps to fill in the gaps, which has benefits for both lenders and consumers. In fact, 61% of consumers believe adding payment history would have a positive impact on their credit score, and therefore are willing to share their data with lenders. Alternative credit data is FCRA-compliant and includes information like alternative finance data, rental payments, utility payments, bank account information, consumer-permissioned data and full-file public records. Because this data shows a holistic view of the customer, it helps to determine their ability to repay debts and reveals any delinquent behaviors. These insights help lenders to expand their consumer lending universe– all while mitigating and preventing risk. The benefits can also be seen for home-based and small businesses. Fifty percent of all US small businesses are home-based, but many small business owners lack visibility due to their thin-file nature – making it extremely difficult to secure bank loans and capital to fund their businesses. And, younger generations and small business owners account for 58% of business owners who rely on short term lending. By leveraging alternative credit data, lenders can get greater insights into a small business owner’s credit profile and gauge risk. Entrepreneurs can also benefit from this information being used to build their credit profiles – making it easier for them to gain access to investment capital to fund their new ventures. Like a hiring manager, it’s important for lenders to get a comprehensive view to find the most qualified candidates. Using alternative credit data can expand your choices – read our 2019 State of Alternative Credit Data Whitepaper to learn more and register for our upcoming webinar. Register Now
First impressions are always important – whether it’s for a job interview, a first date or when pitching a client. A good first impression in the financial services industry – specifically frictionless onboarding – is critical when it comes to onboarding new users and clients, as it’s an opportunity to set the stage for lifetime loyalty. As a result, financial institutions are on the hunt now more than ever for frictionless digital ID verification, to validate genuine customers and maintain positive customer experiences during the online onboarding process. In a predominantly digital-first world, financial companies are increasingly focused on the customer experience and creating the most seamless and frictionless online onboarding process. The number of banking users (online and mobile) exceeded 2 billion in 2018 and has an expected 11% compound annual growth rate between 2019-2023, according to Experian’s 2019 Global Identity and Fraud Report. That’s a lot of people to impress – no pressure. And as technology continues to advance, digital onboarding services for financial industries will, not surprisingly, increase the demand for fraud protection and authentication methods – namely with digital ID verification processes. Now consider this – mobile banking users are expected to be 58% of the global banked population in 2019. According to Experian’s report, 74% of consumers see security as the most important element of their online experience, followed by convenience. Again, no pressure. So how can companies guarantee a frictionless online onboarding process while executing proper authentication methods and maintaining security and fraud detection? The answer? While a “frictionless” experience can seem like a bit of a unicorn, there are some ways to get close: Utilizing better data - Digital devices offer an extensive amount of data that’s useful in determining risk. Characteristics that allow the identification of a specific device, the behaviors associated with the device and information about a device’s owner can be captured without adding friction for the user. Analytics – Once the data is collected, advanced analytics uses information based on behavioral data, digital intelligence, phone intelligence and email intelligence to analyze for risk. While there’s friction in the initial ask for the input data, the risk prediction improves with more data. Document verification and biometric identity verification – Real-time document verification used in conjunction with facial biometrics, behavioral biometrics and other physical characteristics allows for rapid onboarding and helps to maintain a low friction customer journey. Financial institutions can utilize document verification to replace manual long-form applications for rapid onboarding and immediately verify new data at the point of entry. Using their mobile phones, customers can photograph and upload identity documents that can be used to pre-fill applications. Document authenticity can be verified in real-time. Biometrics, including facial, behavioral, or other physical characteristics (like fingerprints), are low-touch methods of customer authentication that can be used synchronously with document verification. These elements can help create a frictionless digital ID verification process. Experian understands how critical identity management and fraud protection is when it comes to the online onboarding process and identity verification. That’s why we created layered digital identity verification and risk segmentation solutions to help legitimize your customers with confidence while improving the customer experience. Our identity verification solutions use advanced technology and capabilities to correctly identify and verify real customers while mitigating fraud and maintaining frictionless customer experiences. Learn More
Alex Lintner, Group President at Experian, recently had the chance to sit down with Peter Renton, creator of the Lend Academy Podcast, to discuss alternative credit data,1 UltraFICO, Experian Boost and expanding the credit universe. Lintner spoke about why Experian is determined to be the leader in bringing alternative credit data to the forefront of the lending marketplace to drive greater access to credit for consumers. “To move the tens of millions of “invisible” or “thin file” consumers into the financial mainstream will take innovation, and alternative data is one of the ways which we can do that,” said Lintner. Many U.S. consumers do not have a credit history or enough record of borrowing to establish a credit score, making it difficult for them to obtain credit from mainstream financial institutions. To ease access to credit for these consumers, financial institutions have sought ways to both extend and improve the methods by which they evaluate borrowers’ risk. By leveraging machine learning and alternative data products, like Experian BoostTM, lenders can get a more complete view into a consumer’s creditworthiness, allowing them to make better decisions and consumers to more easily access financial opportunities. Highlights include: The impact of Experian Boost on consumers’ credit scores Experian’s take on the state of the American consumer today Leveraging machine learning in the development of credit scores Expanding the marketable universe Listen now Learn more about alternative credit data 1When we refer to \"Alternative Credit Data,\" this refers to the use of alternative data and its appropriate use in consumer credit lending decisions, as regulated by the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Hence, the term \"Expanded FCRA Data\" may also apply in this instance and both can be used interchangeably.
Once you have kids, your bank accounts will never be the same. From child care to college, American parents spend, on average, over $233,000 raising a child from birth through age 17. While moms and dads are facing the same pile of bills, they often don’t see eye to eye on financial matters. In lieu of Father’s Day, where spending falls $8 million behind Mother’s Day (sorry dads!), we’re breaking down the different spending habits of each parent: Who pays the bills? With 80% of mothers working full time, the days of traditional gender roles are behind us. As both parents share the task of caring for the children, they also both take on the burden of paying household bills. According to Pew Research, when asked to name their kids’ main financial provider, 45% of parents agreed they split the role equally. Many partners are finding it more logical to evenly contribute to shared joint expenses to avoid fighting over finances. However, others feel costs should be divvied up according to how much each partner makes. What do they splurge on? While most parents agree that they rarely spend money on themselves, splurge items between moms and dads differ. When they do indulge, moms often purchase clothes, meals out and beauty treatments. Dads, on the other hand, are more likely to binge on gadgets and entertainment. According to a recent survey on millennial dads, there’s a strong correlation between the domestic tasks they’re taking on and how they’re spending their money. For instance, most dads are involved in buying their children’s books, toys and electronics, as well as footing the bill for their leisure activities. Who are they more likely to spend on? No parent wants to admit favoritism. However, research from the Journal of Consumer Psychology found that you’re more likely to spend money on your daughter if you’re a woman and more likely to spend on your son if you’re a man. The suggested reasoning behind this is that women can more easily identify with their daughters and men with their sons. Overall, parents today are spending more on their children than previous generations as the cost of having children in the U.S. has exponentially grown. How are they spending? When it comes to money management both moms and dads claim to be the “saver” and label the other as the “spender.” However, according to Experian research, there are financial health gaps between men and women, specifically when it pertains to credit. For example, women have 11% less average debt than men, a higher average VantageScore and the same revolving debt utilization of 30%. Even with more credit cards, women have fewer overall debts and are managing to pay those debts on time. There’s no definite way to say whether moms are spending “better” than dads, or vice versa. Rather, each parent has their own strengths and weaknesses when it comes to allocating money and managing expenses. To gain better insight on the different ways consumers are spending money, consider Experian TAPSSM, which allows you to more accurately estimate consumer spend on all general-purpose credit and charge cards over the last 12 months. Learn more about Experian TAPS
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