Experian is proud to be one of the sponsors and participate in the FinCon 2014 conference, taking place September 18-21 in New Orleans, Louisiana. FinCon is an opportunity for financial media to come together to learn what’s trending in personal finance, share best practices for successful social engagement and how, as a community we can enhance financial education. If you are going to FinCon, we have lots planned! Since the conference is just days away, we wanted to highlight some of the ways you can join in the Experian fun. Join Experian’s Mike Delgado on Friday at 1:30 p.m., as he moderates the session, How to Build a Thriving Community: Top bloggers share engagement strategies that work Are you a community builder or social media manager? Let's get together and chat over coffee on Saturday, September 20th at 8 a.m. Stop by our booth to say hi to the #CreditChat crew, learn more about credit and win some goodies! Find #FinConFreddie! Be on the lookout for “FinCon Freddie” throughout the conference venue. If you happen to spot one of these little hoppers, follow the instructions to claim your $25 gift card. There are eight chances to win, so keep your eyes peeled! Even if you can’t make it to #FinCon14, follow Experian on Instagram and @Experian_US on Twitter for clues where #FinConFreddie is hiding and to learn more credit insights.
The following article is a guest post from Dara Duguay, executive director, Credit Builders Alliance. A good credit history is crucial in today’s economy. Far more than just a number, a good credit score can make the difference in being able to access the affordable lending products necessary to go to college, buy a home, or start and grow a small business. Renting an apartment, paying for car insurance, signing up for utilities and even landing a job can also be affected by a person’s credit history – or the absence of one. Unfortunately, for many of the 64 million Americans with no or “thin” credit files, the ability to establish a good credit history is hampered by lack of access to affordable mainstream credit building financial products. A disproportionately large number of these individuals are low-income and many live in areas underserved by traditional financial institutions. They depend on predatory financial service providers who do not report their borrowers' on-time payments. Thus, many of these low-income households find themselves trapped in a vicious credit cycle: the use of predatory financial products prevents them from building good credit and their impaired or nonexistent credit furthers ongoing dependence on asset stripping alternative financial products. Credit Builders Alliance (CBA) launched CBA Reporter in 2006 as a way for non-profit lenders to help build the credit history of disadvantaged entrepreneurs and consumers by reporting their monthly repayments to the major Credit Bureaus. Experian has been a partner in CBA’s Reporter service since CBA’s inception. This service enables non-profit lenders to offer their clients not only a loan to start a business or meet a household need, but also the ability to build a positive credit history. By strengthening one’s credit history, their access to affordable financial products and services will also be strengthened. CBA is proud to have partnered with Experian in a first-ever national study of CBA’s membership to understand the impact of reporting loan repayments on one’s financial health. The analysis confirmed exactly what our experience has shown to be true—when people pay regularly on their credit obligations and these payments are reported to a credit bureau—individuals will benefit through building stronger credit reports and scores. The results of Experian’s analysis supports credit building as a strong tool to assist the most vulnerable to become more financially stable and prosperous.
Over the last few years, there has been a plethora of attention around hybrid and electric vehicles, from both consumers and media alike. Whether it’s due to the fact that consumers have become more environmentally conscience, or that fuel economy standards have begun to take shape, alternative-powered vehicles have steadily risen in popularity. But as the rest of the automotive industry continues to develop more fuel-efficient vehicles, can we expect this “green” car segment to keep growing? Register for quarterly updates: http://ex.pn/1AzlzXB According to Experian Automotive’s most recent report looking at automotive market share and registration trends, the answer appears to be that the segment’s growth has hit a wall. In the first half of 2014, new sales for alternative-powered vehicles decreased by 3.6 percent from the previous year. This marks the first time that “green” cars have experienced a regression in new sales since the recession in 2009. “Despite arguably being the most talked about vehicle segment in recent memory, we’re beginning to see new sales of alternative-powered vehicles come down slightly,” said Brad Smith, director for Experian Automotive. “While the reduction could be caused by any number of reasons, we have to keep in mind that there have been significant improvements in gas mileage across all car segments. This combined with the fact that smaller economy vehicles are typically several thousand dollars less than alternative-powered vehicles, consumers are able to get similar car value for their money.” Findings from the report also showed that entry-level CUVs took over the top spot as the number one vehicle segment among new registrations in the first half of the year. Small economy cars rose to the second spot, while full-sized pickup trucks, which was the top vehicle segment in the first half of 2013 fell to number three on the list. Additionally, the top five CUV models in the first half of 2014 were the Honda CR-V, Ford Escape, Chevrolet Equinox, Toyota RAV4 and Nissan Rogue. The top five small economy car models during the same time period were Toyota Corolla, Chevrolet Cruze, Ford Focus, Hyundai Elantra and Nissan Sentra. Other findings from the report include: • Total vehicles in operation in the second quarter of 2014 reached 249.4 million, an increase of 1.5 million vehicles from a year ago • The average age of vehicles (rolling average of current 15 model year vehicles) decreased to 7.6 years in Q2 2014 from 7.7 years in Q2 2013 • Ford, International and Freightliner were the top three vehicle makes for medium and heavy duty vehicles on the road in Q2 2014 • In Q2 2014, 82.2% of all medium and heavy duty vehicles were powered by diesel fuel • All regions saw a decrease in used vehicle registrations in the first half of 2014, with the exception of the northeast, which saw a 1.8 percent improvement • Ford F-150, Toyota Camry and Honda Accord were the top 3 vehicle models in the first half of 2014
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.