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Financial inclusion is a challenge, that, while not new, has become ever more apparent over the last year. The inequities and inequalities in our society, exasperated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which disproportionately affected underserved populations, have amplified the challenge lenders and others in the financial services industry face in fostering financial inclusion. As a result, there is an increased focus and importance on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and having the ability to assess creditworthiness of overlooked and ‘invisible’ consumers. In a recent webinar, we sat down with Sarah Davies, Head of Data Analytics at Nova Credit, and a panel of Experian experts including Wil Lewis, Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer, Alpa Lally, Vice President of Product Management, and Greg Wright, Product Chief Officer, to explore the topic of DEI, what best practices exist to break down financial inclusion barriers and move financial access forward for all, and real-takeaway strategies and capabilities designed for fintechs and other financial institutions to leverage for lending deeper. Below are a few key perspectives from our speakers: What barriers to access are there for credit across different groups of people? [WL]: There are many barriers to financial inclusion, especially for underserved communities. The first of which is lack of awareness and lack of education about credit and how it impacts financial access – from obtaining loans, buying a first home, a new car and more. Not every American has someone in their life to teach and provide coaching on credit responsibility and how to be financially literate. [AL]: Historically, credit, wealth and health inequalities have all contributed to financial disparities, and as a result, have created an underrepresentation of marginalized communities in the current credit ecosystem. That’s compounded by today’s ecosystem where consumer underwriting favors those with established thick-file credit histories with minimal delinquencies, particularly in the last 24 months. So, all things being equal, additional points distributed to elevate scores are given to consumers that are maintaining low revolving debt. This poses credit barriers for those starting out new to credit, or even to immigrants coming into a new country who don’t have an established credit history.   What role could the credit industry play in healing the financial disparities created by the COVID-19 pandemic? [WL]: Our opportunity lies in meeting consumers where they are today. COVID-19 has spotlighted economic and social disparities in a way it hasn’t been done before. At the same time, it illustrated how the inability of some groups to access financial services requires meaningful solutions, quickly. Historically, organizations have been known to look at this in a traditional way: meaning “we are the organization, consumers come to us and we can tell you what you can and can’t do.” We need to shift our focus to how we can provide consumers with tools, technology and machine learning (ML) that are available to empower them. [SD]: One of the lessons we’ve learned from COVID, is that we need to be able to get to the marketplace fast in order to respond to the economic conditions. Fintechs have been very effective at this and it has shown through the approach they’ve taken towards immediacy in identifying, developing and distributing solutions. With consumers in a stressed position, it’s incumbent upon us, as the industry, to deliver consumer-centric options and opportunities in an efficient manner rather than having our consumers sit around waiting for them.   Are there solutions to help ensure we are lending deeper and serving thin-filed consumers? [AL]: At its core, data – not limited to only traditional credit data – that can be decisioned on, can help enrich financial inclusion. Alternative data, or expanded FCRA data, means that the data is displayable, disputable and correctable by the consumer. We recognize that traditional credit is still an effective way to assess a consumer’s credit worthiness. However, expanded FCRA data includes data points from rental, video streaming, all other industry sectors to help provide a 360 view of the consumer with additional insights – whether you are a thick-file consumer, thin-file consumer, or credit invisible. Through these different various data assets paired with advanced analytics and ML, we now have a mechanism to make sure consumers go from credit invisible to visible – and scorable. Leveraging Experian Boost and Experian Lift scores can do just that. [SD]: Expanded FCRA data is powerful and vital for helping the consumer. In addition, we are now in a place where the consumer can take on the responsibility and accountability for giving permission to include their data in the credit score. You’re putting the consumers in the driver seat, and with that, we are dissolving the psychological barriers that consumers may have had previously around their credit score being out of their control. As a player in the financial services space, we can put out as much data as we want, but it’s about engaging the consumer, sharing with them how it’s safe to share their data, and what the benefits of doing so are.   Are there tangible and intangible benefits of DEI that companies can realize when they have formal DEI programs in place? [WL]: Often times, when we think of lending, we talk about it from the standpoint of our business – ‘what are we doing for our customers, how are we helping consumers who are going to a institution for a loan.’ What we typically forget about is our own backyard. Every organization has employees who are at different points in their credit journey. How often do we talk directly to our employees and give them tools and details that may help them, their family member, or neighbor? As I think about DEI, it’s about involving folks inside your company to continue moving financial inclusion forward. As for an intangible benefit, when doing work in DEI and driving impact, you’re also reducing negative reputational risk. Reputable brands are invaluable, as you begin to make and show an impact, consumers begin to trust you. [AL]: Brand and reputation is huge in today’s world. We are starting to see a shift in consumers selecting certain institutions to work with, not just because of the services provided, but because it’s based on the brand and what they stand for. You as an institution are doing financial inclusion and you’re living up to it. You are truly embarking internally and externally on this initiative and it adds weights on the products and solutions that you sell. For consumers, that may be very important.   What does the future look like relative to financial inclusion? [WL]: It’s a world where all of us play a role in – no matter where you are in the organization. It’s all of our jobs and responsibility to talk about it to our fellow neighbor, consumer, and direct them to tools that will help them. [SD]: We no longer need to justify why financial inclusion is necessary. We’ve got all the data we need. Tools and mechanisms for organizations and consumers are almost universally available. The go-forward view requires all ‘players’ within the space to aggressively embrace these tools and data and start sharing and applying them across all markets and verticals. There’s no longer a reason not to be able to underwrite somebody with a thin file or marginal set of data. We have everything in place at this point. [AL]: It’s all our jobs. I think we have to put a lot of importance on our younger leaders and colleagues to carry our initiatives forward, so we are truly inclusive. We have just started taking the initial steps and we’ve made good progress, but we need to continue to make progress. In the future, I hope to see all that are younger take this forward and drive financial inclusion for all across the spectrum. Watch the full session to hear more of the engaging and timely discussion. Access the recording To learn more about how Experian is committed to advancing financial inclusion, please visit Experian’s Inclusion Forward resources page. For Fintechs looking to partner with Experian on marketplace lending solutions, explore our solutions here.

Artificial intelligence is here to stay, and businesses who are adopting the newest AI technology are ahead of the game. From targeting the right prospects to designing effective collections efforts, AI-driven strategies across the entire customer lifecycle are no longer a nice to have – they are a must.  Many organizations are late to the game of AI and/or are spending too much time and money designing and redesigning models and deploying them over weeks and months. By the time these models are deployed, markets may have already shifted again, forcing strategy teams to go back to the drawing board. And if these models and strategies are not being continuously monitored, they can become less effective over time and lead to missed opportunities and lost revenue. By implementing artificial intelligence in predictive modeling and strategy optimization, financial institutions and lenders can design and deploy their decisioning strategies faster than ever before and make incremental changes on the fly to adapt to evolving market trends.  While most organizations say they want to incorporate artificial intelligence and machine learning into their business strategy, many do not know where to start. Targeting, portfolio management, and collections are some of the top use cases for AI/ML strategy initiatives.  Targeting  One way businesses are using AI-driven modeling is for targeting the audiences that will most likely meet their credit criteria and respond to their offers. Financial institutions need to have the right data to inform a decisioning strategy that recognizes credit criteria, can respond immediately when prospects meet that criteria and can be adjusted quickly when those factors change. AI-driven response models and optimized decision strategies perform these functions seamlessly, giving businesses the advantage of targeting the right prospects at the right time.  Credit portfolio management  Risk models optimized with artificial intelligence and machine learning, built on comprehensive data sets, are being used by credit lenders to acquire new revenue and set appropriate balance limits. Strategies built around AI-driven risk models enable businesses to send new offers and cross-sell offers to current customers, while appropriately setting initial credit limits and managing limits over time for increased wallet share and reduced risk.   Collections  AI- and ML-driven analytics models are also optimizing collections strategies to improve recovery rates. Employing AI-powered balance and response models, credit lenders can make smarter collections decisions based on the most predictive and accurate information available.   For lending businesses who are already tight on resources, or those whose IT teams cannot meet the demand of quickly adapting to ever-changing market conditions and decisioning criteria, a managed service for AI-powered models and strategy design might be the best option. Managed service teams work closely with businesses to determine specific use cases, develop models to meet those use cases, deploy models quickly, and monitor models to ensure they keep producing and predicting optimally.  Experian offers Ascend Intelligence Services, the only managed service solution to provide data, analytics, strategy and performance monitoring. Experian’s data scientists provide expert guidance as they collaborate with businesses in developing and deploying models and strategies around targeting, acquisitions, limit-setting, and collections. Once those strategies are deployed, Experian continually monitors model health to ensure scores are still predictive and presents challenger models so credit lenders can always have the most accurate decisioning models for their business. Ascend Intelligence Services provides an online dashboard for easy visibility, documentation for regulatory compliance, and cloud capabilities to deliver scores and decisions in real-time.  Experian’s Ascend Intelligence Services makes getting into the AI game easy. Start realizing the power of data and AI-driven analytics models by using our ROI calculator below: initIframe('611ea3adb1ab9f5149cf694e'); For more information about Ascend Intelligence Services, visit our webpage or join our upcoming webinar on October 21, 2021.  Learn more Register for webinar

We’re excited to announce that the AutoCheck Member Website has received a facelift! AutoCheck has always been the industrial strength Vehicle History Report that automotive professionals trust to help manage risk and confidently buy and sell the right vehicles. We’ve made this great solution even greater by improving our Member Site user experience. Based on extensive research and user feedback, we’ve added many visual and workflow enhancements which make it easier for users to use the site. One noticeable change to the Member Website is the addition of Experian’s brand and color scheme. You’ll know right away that you’re accessing AutoCheck data backed by Experian, the industry experts for reliable data. The entire site is now mobile responsive—optimizing the experience for tablet and mobile users to provide even more shopping convenience. The new site will allow full functionality from a tablet or mobile device. As always, subscribers can continue to access AutoCheck reports via our mobile app or AutoCheck Fast Link℠ integration within their DMS, CRM, inventory management, online vehicle listings or many other integrated solutions. In addition, the AutoCheck Member Website is now WCAG 2.1 compliant. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) were developed to make web content more accessible to people with disabilities. This ‘web content’ usually refers to text, images and sounds on a webpage or web application. It also may include code that defines structure and presentation of the page of application. While a generated AutoCheck was already WCAG2.1 compliant, the entire member site now also meets the accessibility guidelines. AutoCheck Members can expect the same great functionality once they have signed into the site: Run single or multiple reports Print and email AutoCheck reports Print the Buyback Protection Certificate and the AutoCheck Score Sticker View the Track their 90-day usage Access AutoCheck brand materials including logos, videos and showroom materials Review Best Practices and Frequently Asked Questions Update account information …and much more! Below are a couple of examples which highlight the new user experience.   Already an AutoCheck Member? Contact us or call us at 1.888.409.2204 if you have any questions about navigating the redesigned website. Not an AutoCheck subscriber? Contact us to become an AutoCheck client and take advantage of all the benefits.