The following article is a guest post from, John C. Linfield, Executive Director at the Institute for Financial Literacy. At the end of “Financial Literacy Month” here in the United States, it seems appropriate to take a moment and think about why we should become financially literate, and how we can use that to stay on track for the long term. As educators, we talk a lot about what financially literacy is. But when all is said and done, are we becoming financially literate just because we should? Is financial literacy only about acquiring a specific set of skills and knowledge, for the sake of being able to say we learned it? Many financial educators, myself included, focus on the technical skills and knowledge that the average consumer needs to manage their personal finances on a day to day basis. Money management, credit and debt management, insurance, and the basics of investing and retirement planning form the pillars of financial literacy, the required knowledge that forms the core of a financially literate consumer. As financial literacy evolves however, we are finding that knowledge, while absolutely critical, is not enough. For example, when people learn about debt management, some go home and immediately begin a successful debt reduction plan. Others just feel good about themselves for a little while and never apply what they’ve learned. Why? Is there something that transforms someone from a merely knowledgeable consumer to one that is engaged and in control of their finances? Is there is a catalyst, a secret, which moves a consumer from knowing to doing? The truth is that there is a secret in financial literacy, and many financial educators (including yours truly) often fail to share that secret with our students through oversight. So, here’s your big chance. I’m coming clean. I’m revealing how the financial magic works. I’m going rogue, throwing caution to the wind and sharing arcane and mysterious knowledge that will transform your world. To start, picture this scenario, all too common in homes throughout the United States: You sit down to pay your bills. You struggle as you decide which bills you’ll pay this month, and which ones will have to wait, or worse be ignored entirely. You check your credit card statements, and once again the balances due are even higher than the month before. You have little to no savings and no retirement plan. Your mortgage, which you’re already behind on, has a balance that’s growing due to late fees and the fact you aren’t paying each month, just often enough to hold off the foreclosure on the house you couldn’t afford to buy in the first place. The phone rings 3 or 4 times, but you don’t bother answering it because it’s just the nightly calls from the debt collectors. By the time you’re finished struggling through the mess, you head into bed exhausted, knowing you don’t have enough money to do anything enjoyable anyway. Now picture this scenario: You sit down to pay your bills. You pay all of your bills on time, and you pay off your credit cards in full, as you do every month. You check your bank statements and see that your savings and investments are continuing to grow slowly but steadily. Finally, you check your mortgage statement and see that those extra payments you’ve been making are shrinking your mortgage balance much faster than you ever thought possible. You get a call from your good friend, and you make plans for the weekend. Having finished managing your finances for today, you get up and head out to enjoy the rest of the evening. Most likely, your reality falls somewhere between these two extremes. Which scenario would you rather be in? More importantly, if the first scenario is closer to your reality than you would like, what can you do to turn things around? Here’s an exercise that will help you find your secret, and help you stay on the right track financially. Many of us avoid thinking about our finances because of the stress and negative feelings that it dredges up. But those feelings are OK. I want you to feel that stress and those negative feelings. Why am I such a jerk? Why do I want you to feel that pain? Because it’s only by doing so that you can take the first step to finding your secret. I want you to sit and close your eyes for at least 10 minutes (really, I’m serious). I want you to think about your financial situation. Think about the bills, the debt, and the worries for the future. Don’t shy away from it; face it in the full, cold light of day. Allow yourself to feel the worry and the fear and the stress to the fullest extent possible. The worse your financial situation, the closer to tears you should get. Embrace it, wallow in it, but above all feel it. Now focus on the One Thing about your finances that causes you the most pain, whatever it is. Feel that one worry as deeply as you can. Hold that feeling. When you’ve gotten as low as you can go, picture yourself in the second scenario above. Picture yourself paying all of your bills on time, every time. Picture your debt decreasing while your assets are growing. Picture yourself dealing with the most terrifying/depressing aspect of your finances and solving it. Imagine what that would feel like, how light you would feel, how calm and peaceful and relieved. Do you feel that smile? That warm glow? That sense of well-being that makes you want to do anything you can to achieve it? That’s it, right there. It’s the One Thing that will keep you focused, engaged and committed with your finances. It will keep you on track, it will give you the willpower to do the things you need to do to achieve the One Thing. Even better, that focus and commitment will spread to the other aspects of your personal finances like a virus over time. That’s your motivation. That’s your secret. As with many things in life, each of us has our own motivations, our own secrets. For some, it is paying off a mortgage, getting out of debt or retiring. All of these are practical, achievable, logical goals, and many of us share these goals or have multiple goals we want to achieve. But in order to transform your finances, in order to take control over the long-term, you have to identify the One Thing and focus on it like a laser. In short, you need to make an emotional connection with your finances, one that can balance the emotional connection you have to the behaviors and choices that led you into financial trouble in the first place. You need to find your motivation. Why? As human beings, we need to feel an emotional connection to something in order to embrace it fully. We don’t pay bills for the sheer joy of paying bills. Building a rainy day fund doesn’t make us better people. If we’re doing these things because we think we have to, we won’t last. We have to dig deeper, get past the technical aspects of managing our finances, and find the One Thing. That emotional connection between our finances and our lives that will give us the strength we need to do what has to be done because a stable financial situation is the gateway to enjoying our lives fully. That’s why financial literacy is important. Through the financial resources it helps us develop, it provides us with the one thing we all have in limited supply: time to enjoy our lives, however we define that. And that’s the secret.
People are making a big deal about big data—and it is a big deal. It has the power to guide us in addressing some of our nation’s most pressing needs, from protecting against fraud at the checkout counter to helping families secure affordable loans that help them accomplish their dreams. And like any powerful tool, it must be deployed wisely; in the wrong hands, as Hollywood saw recently, data can be hacked. But that doesn’t mean abandoning big data is the solution, especially with so many weighty challenges burdening our nation. There’s a smart way to use data right, and we can “unleash untold opportunities” if we use technology to do it well, as President Obama alluded to in this year’s State of the Union address. With big data, technology is now able to process unfathomable, and until recently largely unmanageable, volumes of information. And from that processing, we can identify actionable insights that can illuminate new solutions to old problems. Read the full article on TheHill.com
On Monday, Experian’s former North American CEO Craig Boundy welcomed conference attendees, asking everyone to Think BIG during the week. Later in the day, we heard an inspirational forward thinking keynote address by former US secretary of state Dr. Madeleine Albright on the geopolitical environment touching on information security. On Tuesday, it was all about BIG insights on the US economy as Adam Fingersh introduced Dr. James Paulsen from Wells Capital Management, who delivered an in-depth economic and financial market update. Paulsen, deemed the recovery the longest in U. S. history, saying “The great recession is often compared to the great depression, but this is really a great exaggeration.” After Dr. Paulsen’s remarks, Experian began its second day of breakout sessions with insights from our team of experts in big data, decision analytics, consumer credit, compliance and fraud before heading off for a day of networking activities. Later in the evening we all celebrated over dinner together while being entertained by the legendary Kool and the Gang. On The final day of the conference, Lloyd Parker, Group President of Credit Services closed Vision by introducing NBA Legend and Hall of Famer, Earvin “Magic” Johnson, who delivered an inspiring talk. Magic got up close and personal with the audience, sharing his insights on being a champion athlete, overcoming obstacles, and the many life lessons on becoming a successful entrepreneur, job creator and community advocate. We are all looking forward to seeing you in Scottsdale, Arizona next year for Vision 2016. Twitter Highlights "Big data is a force for good and makes a difference in the economy, consumers and society," Craig Boundy #vision2015 — Vision Conference (@ExperianVision) May 4, 2015 One day we hope to have a client user event like @ExperianVision as its the best for content, networking and fun! #V…https://t.co/LGiyxKAh5i — masterQueue (@intellaegis) May 8, 2015 I shared my business expertise and how I transitioned from basketball court to the boardroom! @Experian_B2B #vision2015 — Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) May 6, 2015 "Whether you are a foreign minister or a CEO you have to be able to manage risk," Madeleine K. Albright #vision2015 — Vision Conference (@ExperianVision) May 4, 2015 For more Twitter highlights, 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.