I’m pleased to share that Experian has taken another important step in the transformation of our Consumer Services business, having signed an agreement to acquire CSIdentity Corporation (CSID). The name CSID may not be familiar to most, but it’s a major provider of identity theft and fraud detection solutions in the United States. CSID is the technology platform that sits behind many other identity solution providers, and it’s CSID’s innovation that powers many of the core features of identity protection products marketed under other brands. Experian is familiar with CSID as we have partnered with them in the past, given the synergistic nature of our products. Helping Consumers and Businesses … Beyond being a very important step for our business in North America, I want to highlight how joining forces will help businesses and consumers alike. The combination of our products and services creates a powerful solution in the identity theft protection world. By bringing together Experian’s industry-leading Consumer Services products with the proprietary technology and innovation of CSID’s identity protection platform, we will be able to offer consumers and clients best-in-class credit and identity solutions. This acquisition significantly enhances our ability to address consumers’ advanced needs for tools to protect their identity and detect fraud. CSID has developed a sophisticated and patent-protected technology platform that discovers when identity information has been possibly compromised, and notifies consumers of the activity so that immediate action can be taken. By combining Experian’s credit expertise and CSID’s enhanced capabilities in identity management, we will be able to provide consumers with the ability to manage both their credit and their identity information in one proposition. This two-level approach using credit and identity information enables us to proactively inform consumers that their identification data has been compromised using CSID identity solutions, and advise them that stolen identity information is actively being used in credit inquiries and new account openings. Business Strategy … Consumer adoption of identity-related services is growing globally, driven in part by identity-related trends such as increasing digital activity and the threats around cybersecurity. We now have clear sight of a larger and more dynamic market that provides us with greater opportunities to leverage the entire range of Experian data and analytics capabilities to address the growing needs of consumers. And identity theft protection is a big part of our growth plan. This effort puts the consumer at the center of our decisions. Our aim is to significantly enrich the consumer experience by providing access to a broad range of information, including credit, automotive, health, and identity to help consumers make more informed decisions and control their information. CSID has existing contracts with many industry participants. I’m confident Experian’s breadth of data and analytics capabilities could add real value to these relationships. The Details … As is common in a deal such as this, the agreement is subject to Hart-Scott Rodino regulatory approval. Once that is concluded, we will be in a position to talk in even greater detail about how and why this acquisition will be a powerful win for helping businesses and consumers navigate the modern era of personal identity theft protection services. We’re delighted by the opportunities the acquisition of CSID brings, and we look forward to welcoming the CSID team to Experian. Craig Boundy Experian North America CEO
On Tuesday, Experian held a press conference and ribbon cutting ceremony with San Diego Mayor, Kevin Faulconer to announce and celebrate the expansion of the data and innovation lab in North America. The new 10,000 square-foot state-of-the-art facility will allow Experian to use breakthrough experiments to good things with data. Mayor Faulconer spoke about creating innovative jobs and opportunities in San Diego and welcomed the growth, ingenuity and creativity that Experian’s talented employees will bring to San Diego. Eric Haller, Executive Vice President of Experian’s DataLabs, joined Mayor Faulconer in addressing the three major broadcast news networks in San Diego, as well as reporters from the San Diego Business Journal, San Diego Union-Tribune and Reuters. “At this point, I’d like to think of this not as a finish line for our labs but a starting point. We have a lot of great opportunity ahead of us, and we hope that in this lab we'll start to achieve our vision around the future of banking, retail and automotive,” said Haller. Experian DataLabs currently staffs 30 employees in San Diego and plans on doubling the team within this year. Click the links below to view media coverage from the event. http://app.criticalmention.com/app/#clip/view/22084420?token=f65a02f2-ab51-4766-9f99-deeee5ec8788
Experian has expanded its growing North America DataLabs in San Diego to further innovation and enable leading data scientists to help clients and businesses solve strategic marketing and risk management problems through advanced data analysis processes, research and development. This new state-of-the-art facility will be equipped with beacons, biometrics and emerging technologies to keep Experian on the forefront of innovation. “We are proud that Experian has selected San Diego as home for its new innovation lab facility. This commitment from an information services giant like Experian is further validation that companies are expanding, growing and helping us to create more jobs in San Diego,” said San Diego Mayor Kevin L. Faulconer. “San Diego is indeed a world-class city of innovation, and our highly skilled scientific and technology talent is clearly helping to make San Diego a destination for new businesses, jobs and opportunities.” Experian DataLabs is staffed by teams of Ph.D. scientists and applied research practitioners with expertise in advanced analytics and modeling, as well as other statistical methods. The labs provide access to Experian resources such as broad and secure consumer and commercial credit data and demographics, which can guide Experian clients in determining their approaches. Projects often tackle high-dimensionality problems where computer science, applied mathematics and business acumen intersect to create solutions that can be implemented cost effectively. The first innovation lab was launched five years ago to provide clients with innovative techniques and applications to capture the value hidden within their data assets. The labs allow data scientists to conduct breakthrough data experimentation to present a larger picture and deliver greater competitive advantages. “We want to provide our team with an environment that will further inspire them, spark their powerful creativity and drive innovation for Experian and our clients,” said Eric Haller, executive vice president, Experian Global DataLabs. “I’m so very proud of the team and to be part of a truly innovative and entrepreneurial company like Experian that had the foresight five years ago to allow us to create these labs. The future is bright for us and our clients, and I can’t wait to see the good things with data that will come out of this new facility.” Experian DataLabs operates globally with labs in San Diego, Calif.; London, England; and São Paulo, Brazil. Click here to view video coverage from yesterday's ribbon cutting ceremony featuring San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer and Executive Vice President of Experian DataLabs, Eric Haller.
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.