I am a Senior Business Analyst in Experian’s office in Bulgaria. When refugee camps in my country first began filling up with Syrian refugees, I went to help as a volunteer. Since Experian had helped with similar initiatives for those in poverty in Bulgaria, I thought it would be a good idea to volunteer so I could inform other Experian employees of ways they could volunteer in the future. And now I can see that happening, as Experian is about to embark on a new volunteer project as a result. When I first stepped into the refugee camp as part of my own volunteer efforts, it was evening and nearly winter. I came with two volunteers, each carrying bags of clothes and food. No one can really prepare you for the conditions you witness in the camp, and they’re difficult to describe, too. Families had staked claims in small spaces by hanging up curtains, and while some families had the luxury of a bed made from a basic mattress, most people slept on the ground. As I made my way through the camp, I met a family of 12, including a small baby. I was overwhelmed by the welcome they gave me as they invited me to stay and talk with them. A few of them spoke some English, but the rest just wanted to communicate to me in whatever way they could. They graciously prepared me a dinner in traditional Syrian style — couscous, with vegetables and sauces. The meal was like a small celebration for them. They were delighted to even have my attention. Before I left, they sang me a traditional Syrian song that brought tears to my eyes. These people were a normal family — just like mine. They may be from a different country, speak a different language and have different cultural traditions, but I felt a strong sense of kinship to them. My experience grew in me a desire to do more for refugees coming to our country and bring more people along to help. I decided to apply for funding for Experian to work alongside the Refugee Project in a joint initiative to make a bigger, long-term impact on these people. This funding would give other Experian employees a chance to volunteer and provide refugees with the supplies they need. Additionally, Experian is in the process of organizing workshops for families who wish to stay in Bulgaria. These workshops will provide financial education to help them open a bank account, learn how our financial system works and give them the financial information they need to rebuild their lives. It means a lot to me to see what a difference we’re making and how we’re changing lives. I love knowing our work is helping people find a place to live, get a job and start their own business, as well as introducing Syrians to our local culture and customs. Read more #ExperianStories from our colleagues around the world. Photo: Tram in Sofia, Bulgaria
Experian is honored to be among a select group of companies recognized by the Orange County Register as among the best places to work in Orange County, California. This is Experian’s fourth year participating in the TopWorkplaces survey and the fourth time we’ve been recognized as a TopWorkplace. We’re very proud to be among this select group of companies, achieving continual recognition for our positive business culture. Over each of the past four years, Experian’s position on the list has continued to rise, and it’s a cause for real celebration across our workforce of nearly 1,300 people in Orange County when the rankings are announced. We believe this is a reflection of the true passion and commitment the people of Experian demonstrate in our business every day in our efforts to better serve consumers and businesses. On a personal basis, I started with the business nearly 40 years ago, when the company was known as TRW Credit Data, headquartered in Anaheim. And I’ve watched the business grow from the simple concept of credit reporting to what is now an incredibly complex and powerful global business that powers opportunities by understanding how to make information and technology work for the benefit of consumers, businesses and the communities in which we operate. Experian’s employees realize that what we do impacts the lives of millions of people every day. Lenders rely on our information and technology to make decisions about extending credit to people millions of times every day, which means we’re enabling people to buy cars, get mortgages and fulfill their dreams of home ownership, pay for college educations, and fund the development of small businesses. After all, it’s access to affordable credit that underpins the development of all economies, and on a global basis, Experian is there to help. We are very proud of what we do and we’re equally proud of how we do it. We also realize that we have a responsibility to actively participate and contribute to our communities. Across the globe, we refer to our community engagement programs as “the Heart of Experian,” it’s central to the passion and commitment the people of Experian feel about the company. Our employees are strongly incentivized to be engaged in community support efforts, and Experian provides ample opportunities for employees to volunteer time and money to support local food banks, raise donations for organizations like Children's Hospital of Orange County and Susan G Komen For the Cure. We work with individuals in homeless shelters to help make them credit worthy to be able to afford to move into housing. We’re also committed to continuously searching for top-level talent to bring to Orange County to support our business. Our senior leaders participate in the advisory councils of major universities, including University of California Irvine, and our recruiters travel to universities throughout the United States searching for some of the brightest minds to join us. As I see it, it’s easy for business leaders to make throw away comments such as “our employees are our greatest asset.” In today’s highly competitive world, it is essential that businesses do more than say, but rather treat all employees as their greatest asset. Companies build the atmosphere to treat employees as their greatest asset by providing challenging work and vexing problems to solve, the best training and development available, opportunities for career development and progression, a healthy respect for diversity, and a reward systems that recognizes every individual’s contribution to the success of the company. Experian’s mission oriented environment is one that attracts and retains top talent in Costa Mesa, as well as our other locations across North America. Our employees are committed to helping to create better tomorrows in our communities through corporate social responsibility activities, and through our everyday work and business purpose. Peg Smith is Executive Vice President of Investor Relations Photo of Experian employees accepting the award courtesy of the Orange County Register.
During the holidays, you can always expect to see the malls and local shopping centers filled with consumers purchasing gifts for their families and friends. It can be quite a hectic adventure. So much so, many consumers find themselves shopping online to circumvent some of the holiday stress. After all, shopping online can be an efficient strategy year round. But with many consumers choosing to shop online, comes the potential of the abandoned shopping cart. We’ve all been there. We receive an important phone call just as we begin to checkout, and forget all about it. How can brands entice those of us who abandon our shopping carts to come back to the website and complete our transaction? According to Experian’s Q3 2016 Email Benchmark Report, customers who received multiple abandoned shopping cart emails were 2.4 times more likely to complete a transaction than customers who only received one. However, that doesn’t mean that brands should bombard customers with multiple emails. In order to toe the line between burdensome and effective email messaging, brands need to take into account how their customers behave. By testing email suppression strategies, brands can find the right balance for successful messaging. For more information on the analysis and a complimentary download of the report, click here. To view the full press release, click here.
Today, we stand at the forefront of a digital revolution that is reshaping the financial services industry. And, against this backdrop, financial institutions are at vastly different levels of maturity; the world’s biggest banks are managing large-scale infrastructure migrations and making significant investments in AI while regional banks and credit unions are putting plans in place for modernization strategies, and fintechs are purpose-built and cloud native. To explore this more, I recently had the privilege of attending the annual Reuters NEXT live event in New York City. The event gathers globally recognized leaders across business, finance, technology, and government to tackle some of today’s most pressing issues. On the World Stage, I joined Del Irani, a talented anchor and broadcast journalist, to discuss the future of lending and the pivotal role of data and AI in building a more inclusive financial system. Improving financial access Our discussion highlighted the lack of access to traditional financial systems, and the impact it has on nearly 100 million people in North America alone. Globally, the problem affects over one billion people. These people, who are credit invisible, unscoreable, or have subprime credit scores, are unable to secure everyday financial products that many of us take for granted. What many don’t realize is, this is not a fringe subset of the population. Most of us, myself included, know someone who has faced the challenges of financial exclusion. Everyday Americans, including young people who are just starting out, new immigrants and people from diverse communities, often lack access to mainstream financial products. We discussed how traditional lending has a limited view of a consumer. Like looking through a keyhole, the lender’s understanding of the person in view is often incomplete and obstructed. However, with expanded data, technology, and advanced analytics, there is an opportunity to better understand the whole person, and as a result have a more inclusive financial system. At Experian, we have a unique ability to connect the power of traditional credit with alternative data, bringing a more holistic understanding of consumers and their behaviors. We are dedicated to leveraging our rich history in data and our expertise in technology to create the future of credit and ultimately bring financial power to everyone. The future of lending After spending two days with over 700 industry leaders from around the world, one thing is abundantly clear: much like the early days of the internet, today, we are at the cutting-edge of a technical revolution. Reflecting on my time at Reuters NEXT, I am particularly excited by the collective commitment to drive innovative, and smarter ways of working. We are only beginning to scratch the surface of how data and technology can transform financial services, and Experian is positioned to play a significant role. As we look to the future, I am excited about the ways we will create new opportunities for businesses and consumers alike.
The advertising ecosystem has seen significant transformation over the past few years, with increased privacy regulation, changes in available signals, and the rise of channels like connected TV and retail media. These changes are impacting the way that consumers interact with brands and how brands understand and continue to deliver relevant messages to consumers with precision. Experian has been helping marketers navigate these changes, and as a result, our marketing data and identity solutions underpin much of today’s advertising industry. We’re committed to empowering marketers and agencies to understand and reach their target audiences, across all channels. Today, we are excited to announce our acquisition of Audigent—a leading data and activation platform in the advertising industry. With Audigent’s combination of first-party publisher data, inventory and deep supply-side distribution relationships, publishers, big and small, can empower marketers to better understand their customers, expand the reach of their target audiences and activate those audiences across the most impactful inventory. I am excited to bring together Audigent’s supply-side network as a natural extension to our existing demand-side capabilities. Audigent’s ability to combine inventory with targeted audiences using first-party, third-party and contextual signals provides the best of all worlds, allowing marketers to deliver campaigns centered on consumer choices, preferences, and behaviors. The addition of Audigent further strengthens our strategy to be the premier independent provider of marketing data and identity, ultimately creating more relevant experiences for consumers. To learn more about Experian and Audigent, visit https://www.experian.com/marketing/ and https://audigent.com/.
When it comes to cybercriminals and threat vectors, we need to expect the unexpected. Experian’s 12th annual Data Breach Industry Forecast highlights several potential trends for 2025, with AI playing a central role. This year has already seen more data breaches and impacted consumers than 2023, indicating that global data breaches are not slowing down. Some things to watch out for next year includes the potential for more internal fraud. As companies train employees on AI, there is a growing risk that some will misuse their knowledge for internal theft and sourcing sensitive information. Another trend may be cyberattackers targeting large data centers, with the growth of generative AI introducing power as a new attack vector. It’s reported that a single ChatGPT query uses significantly more electricity than a standard Google search, making data centers and cloud infrastructure vulnerable, especially in countries with varying security standards. We expect AI-related attacks to dominate the headlines next year and investments in cybersecurity will increase to tackle this emerging threat, as hackers leverage AI for phishing, password cracking, malware, and deepfakes. Jim Steven, Head of Crisis and Data Response Services at Experian Global Data Breach Resolution in the UK, anticipates that global data breaches will persist at their current rate next year. He notes that ransomware attacks are likely to become even more sophisticated with the integration of AI. Additionally, Steven predicts that threat actors will escalate their tactics to achieve greater rewards, and the misuse of consumer data to damage reputations will increase in 2025. To access the complimentary report, click here.