Every organization that touches consumer data is responsible for creating and maintaining consumer trust writes Rick Erwin, President of Targeting at Experian Marketing Services, in a recent issue of Direct Marketing News. Erwin, a direct marketing industry veteran and DMA board member, challenges the data industry at large to adopt strict guidelines and business principles that further consumer trust and effective data stewardship. Most organizations within the data industry realize the need for greater consumer education around privacy, but how do we address that need and put it into practice? At Experian Marketing Services, for example, we are guided by balance, accuracy, security, integrity and communications, the five tenets of our Global Information Values. These values aren’t visionary standards that we strive to meet; they dictate how we do business, daily. Data-driven marketing is an important sector of business and can add significant value to the end consumer. But, as Erwin emphasizes, building consumer trust for data-driven marketing requires that all companies within the data and ad tech ecosystem adopt and implement similar principles. You can read more about the five Global Information Values and how they come to life at Experian Marketing Services in Erwin’s article, “We’re all links in the chain of customer trust.”
Most consumers (89 percent) agree that credit plays an important role when buying a home or a car but only 73 percent recognize that identity fraud could affect their ability to get loans with favorable interest rates, according to a new survey from Experian Consumer Services. In addition, more than half of big-ticket purchasers fail to check their credit at any point in the buying process, which leads to surprises when it comes time to close the deal. “Identity fraud is real and affects consumers at very important times of life,” said Ken Chaplin, senior vice president of marketing for Experian Consumer Services. “In today’s environment, it’s especially important that consumers check their credit regularly to spot signs of fraud, understand better what affects their credit and make decisions that will help them be in the best position possible when it comes time to buy their dream home or car.” The key highlights of the research include: Many consumers live credit confident: Eighty-two percent of consumers report they feel confident about their credit status — only 14 percent say they worry their credit status might hurt their ability to make a home or vehicle purchase Credit affects when and what people buy: Sixteen percent of respondents delay purchasing a vehicle or home in order to improve their credit — 13 percent would purchase a more expensive car or home if they had better credit Checking credit plays a part in the buying process: Sixty percent of home buyers and 25 percent of car buyers check their credit as part of the purchase process For those that check their credit: Thirteen percent were surprised by their credit scores Thirty-six percent said their credit scores were higher than expected Eleven percent report their credit scores were lower than expected Eleven percent found something negative on their credit report that they did not know about Consumers can learn more by visiting Experian.com and watching the most recent commercials from Experian Consumer Services about how they can live credit confident™ when buying a car or securing a home loan. Survey methodology The data points referenced above come from a study commissioned by ConsumerInfo.com® Inc., an Experian company, produced by research firm Edelman Berland and conducted as an online survey of 500 car and home buyers (250 car buyers, 250 home buyers). Buyers were defined as adults who had purchased within the past year or plan to purchase in the next year. Interviewing took place from January 27–30, 2014. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.4 percent. Experian
Agreement extends Experian data and consulting services to ProAct clients Experian®, the leading global information services company, today announced an agreement with Ser Technology, developer of ProAct, a Web-based business intelligence consumer lending analysis and data warehousing solution. The agreement integrates Experian’s Global Consulting Practice expertise with ProAct providing SerTechnology’s credit union clients a 360 degree portfolio view, improving efficiency in the delivery of portfolio risk management decisioning. “We’re excited to collaborate and work more closely with Experian,” said Douglas White, executive vice president of business development at Ser Technology. “Credit unions are overwhelmed with increased risk management compliance burdens as well as executing strategic portfolio risk management strategies. With Experian, credit unions can now leverage ProAct and Experian data and business consulting for strategic portfolio risk management solutions.” ProAct clients can leverage Experian data across a broad spectrum of deliverables, including automated valuation model analysis, credit score migration, loss forecasting and stress testing many different scenarios. Experian’s consulting services will augment ProAct and Experian data, providing the insight and direction credit unions need to evaluate opportunities to improve their customer relationships. “Experian is committed to providing the advice needed to execute strategic decisions using Ser Technology software offering credit unions an essential portfolio risk management and data warehousing framework,” said Shannon Lois, vice president of Experian’s Global Consulting Practice. Experian’s Global Consulting Practice is a credentialed consultancy dedicated to creating measurable and sustainable value for organizations around the globe in a variety of industries. About Ser Technology Ser Technology Corporation, is a technology development and service company and specializes in credit pre-approval marketing, consumer lending analysis, instant credit decisioning and proprietary data encryption for over 2,700 credit unions in the U.S. The company’s passion for excellence is reflected in their web-based ProAct software which is gaining a solid reputation as being a leader in portfolio risk management solutions. For more information, visit www.sertech.com
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.