Margin test

Over the last 19 months the pandemic has disproportionately impacted underserved and low-income communities and exacerbated the health and economic situations of millions of consumers, making it even harder to recover from financial hardships. We’ve made it our mission to change this, and we’re doing so by unlocking the power of data to facilitate access to fair and affordable credit and create new opportunities for people and businesses. We use our products, services, and time to make a real difference to the financial lives of people in many ways. This is at the heart of what we do as a company, and it’s one of the many reasons why it’s such a great honor to be named by Fortune to its global ranking of the top 50 companies making measurable progress addressing social problems. Experian Boost is one example of our commitment to improving financial inclusion, providing users access to credit as a result of improved credit scores. Two years ago, we created this first-of-its-kind service designed to help consumers instantly improve their credit score by giving them credit for on-time utility, telecom, and streaming service payments. Experian Boost in the USA and UK, combined with Serasa’s Score Turbo in Brazil, are empowering consumers to take more control of their financial well-being and promoting financial inclusion. United for Financial Health is another new financial recovery program we created to help consumers who don’t typically have access to credit. Through this initiative we teamed up with 11 NGOs to reach 35 million people in less than a year, smashing our first-year target of 15 million. The partnerships this year have focused on three primary consumer markets – the USA, the UK and Ireland and Brazil. That said, we recognize there is more work to be done. In our 2021 Sustainable Business Report, we made several commitments, including to reach 100 million people through our United for Financial Health campaign by 2024. We remain focused on using our business to make real, sustainable change. Being named on Fortune’s 2021 'Change the World' list is also a testament to our truly inclusive culture at Experian, where everyone’s hard work and commitment is proving to deliver a positive impact to society. Through our investments in data and advanced analytics, we will continue to help lenders identify consumers who are excluded from the credit ecosystem, but who can fulfill their financial obligations and pay responsibly. We want to empower consumers to take control of their financial lives, and we will continue to take strides to do so, ensuring we do the right thing for those we serve.

The largest Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the U.S., UnidosUS, held its LatinX IncluXion Summit this week and I had the pleasure of participating as a featured speaker. One of the conference’s themes this year was “Reimagining our Future” and that resonated with me quite a bit. As an immigrant who has had to reimagine my life and career many times over, I shared some advice on how we can reinvent ourselves, become empowered by those opportunities and give back to our communities. Experian’s support of UnidosUS is especially meaningful to me. As co-executive sponsor of Juntos, our Hispanic and Latino employee resource group, I’m proud to be part of our partnership launch that extends beyond the conference. As part of our United for Financial Health initiative, Experian is supporting the organization’s Financial Empowerment Network (FEN) which provides free, financial coaching for Latino families. I have always been passionate about financial inclusion because I believe it helps empower people to be independent and take care of their families. This is especially true for immigrant communities that already must deal with the challenges of acclimating to a new country, culture, language, and more. Since joining Experian, I have been involved in initiatives that look to expand access for disenfranchised consumers, and a huge portion of my volunteerism has been devoted to educating this community about the benefits of intentionally managing their budgets and what are the best ways to gain access and handle credit. It’s not just UnidosUS affiliates and members who will benefit from our cross-cultural work. Our new Spanish-language consumer education e-book, credit education articles in Spanish, and the new monthly #ChatDeCrédito launched during Hispanic Heritage Month are available to all consumers. Having credit education resources available in-language is just one of many ways we can help those who have faced barriers to accessing credit and financial tools. We look forward to our partnership with UnidosUS and continuing to empower the Hispanic-Latino community.

Black History Month launches in the UK today. Throughout the month, we’ll be holding a series of events to support Black British people to realise their personal financial and business aspirations. Look out for webinars on Credit Scores and Property Investing on 6th October and Credit Scores and Entrepreneurship on 13th October, with guest speakers including Kazeem Alli-Balogun, Sebastian Newby, Stephanie Taylor, Rachael Twumasi-Corson from Afrocenchix, Ismail Oshodi and Raphael Sofoluke. Register here. The last week of October also sees the launch of the first Experian Entrepreneur Challenge, a 5-day bootcamp helping Black micro-entrepreneurs define the roadmap towards business success. The week includes topics like how to spot opportunities for business expansion, and formalising business and funding growth, with special guests from Experian teams holding masterclass sessions on topics like market research, marketing and recruitment. At the end of the week, entrepreneurs will pitch for £3000 worth of funding to help grow their business. Participants will be uploading video diaries over the course of the week, which takes place from 27th October onwards – you’ll be able to check out their experiences on our YouTube channel here. Finally, the Experian team will be sharing personal experiences and career advice at two exciting events, Black Tech Fest and UK Black Business Week. We’re proud to be sponsors of both events. Watch out for more updates and ways to join in virtually nearer the time!

The historic civil rights organization, the National Urban League, kicked off its first-ever virtual national convention recently, and Craig Boundy, former Chief Executive Officer of Experian North America had the honor of joining them. National Urban League President and CEO Marc Morial and Craig announced our new partnership that will support financial inclusion and credit education. During the announcement, Marc mentioned one of the key findings of the Urban League’s 2021 State of Black America – The New Normal: close to 17 percent of Black households lacked basic financial services, compared with three percent of white households in 2017, the last year for which FDIC statistics are available. He characterized this as a “disastrous and disproportionate impact of the COVID pandemic on the economic stability of African American communities.” We believe working together will make a big difference in the lives of underserved consumers. As part of our United for Financial Health program, Experian is providing National Urban League members access to credit education tools and services like consumer credit reports and Experian Boost™, as well as resources for small businesses. As Craig mentioned in his remarks, “at the heart of this partnership is knowledge: when you understand financial services, you come to understand the financial system. You can take steps to create and improve a relationship with financial service providers. That can make a huge difference today, and for future generations.” This partnership is just the start of our relationship with the National Urban League, and we look forward to working together towards closing the wealth gap and empowering consumers to achieve their life’s goals.

With data technology and innovation as the backbone of our company and with our commitment to celebrating diversity, we are proud to share an incredible recognition: AnitaB.org has named Experian North America a Top Company for Women Technologists. Organizations on this list are committed to building workplaces where women technologists can thrive, and this honor is considered an industry benchmark for progress toward equity. Our culture of inclusion internally at Experian fuels our innovations to achieve financial inclusion externally. Being named a Leader by AnitaB.org for the second time affirms we’re moving in the right direction. September has been a big month for us: we also earned a place in Fortune’s Best Workplaces for Women and PEOPLE’s 100 Companies That Care 2021 lists for the first time. My colleague and fellow leader for our Women in Experian employee resource group Karen Tatten shares my sentiments: “It’s fantastic to see our efforts to hire, promote and retain top female talent recognized in the marketplace. It’s a tremendous honor and reminder to all women in Experian of why we chose Experian for our career journey.” At Experian North America, men and women are promoted equally. More than half of our new hires and close to half of all employees identify as women. Former Chief Executive Officer Craig Boundy was recently recognized as a Best CEO for Women by Comparably, an acknowledgement especially meaningful because the award relied solely on the input of employees. Even with these accolades, we strive for better. This year, we are committed to a specific goal for the company globally to help close the gender gap. By 2024, Experian pledges to increase the proportion of women in our executive committee and direct reports to 30%, our senior leaders to 40%, our mid-level leaders to 42%, and our total global workforce to 47%. We look forward to sharing our progress.