JR At a glance

When it comes to credit for small businesses, it’s a classic chicken-and-egg situation: you can’t get credit until you have credit history, and you can’t get credit history until someone grants you credit. I know this first-hand because my own parents were small-business owners in California. My parents had built an independent insurance agency. I distinctly remember as a kid sitting in the backseat of our car and overhearing the discussions they would have about their struggles to grow the business or how they would make payroll that month. Many small businesses don’t have access to small-business loans or business credit cards, so they rely entirely on the business owner’s personal credit to make purchases. This means that while there may be a credit history for the individual, there is none for the business itself. This also means that whenever my parents needed money to get through the month, they essentially had to put their livelihood at risk because there was no separation between personal and business loans. The lack of access to funds, and the consolidation happening in the insurance industry at the time, led my parents to take another big risk – they sold the business and our house, and they liquidated their retirement accounts and put everything into a restaurant franchise. They felt there would be more stability representing an established brand owned by someone else. When I graduated from my MBA program years later, one of the things that first attracted me to Experian was the opportunity I had to ease the burdens of small business owners through my work here. The work I do really hits home, because I’m working every day to open up small-business credit, using different types of data. In today’s economy, a lot of great business ideas – profitable ones, at that – never get a chance to see the light of day simply because they don’t have the capital they need to grow. Experian is making business ideas a reality by gathering, analysing, combining and processing a breadth of new data that allows us to develop credit scores for more people and paint the most realistic picture of a situation. By verifying a business’s history, its social media accounts, its website sophistication and traffic, and customer reviews, we can measure a small business’s legitimacy, how long they’ve been operating and how they’re growing. This information, coupled with transaction data, all help determine a business’s credit worthiness and allow us to give its owners greater access to capital. Data is a huge enabler for positive change because it can give small-business owners access to credit that they wouldn’t receive otherwise. When used in the right ways, data can empower and enable small businesses to get the funding they need to hire employees, invest in their business or open a new location. In many ways, I’m helping people just like my parents.

April = Tax season. For some people, it is a dreaded time of year when they have to comb through file after file to make sure every financial document is accounted for. It can be a sore reminder that the previous New Year’s resolution of being organized may have failed. With your taxes filed (hopefully you didn’t have to extend), you may have the motivation to get your financial documents back in order and do some spring cleaning. What better time than now, during Financial Literacy Month. This month is dedicated to highlighting the importance of financial literacy and teaching Americans how to establish and maintain healthy financial habits. Every week Experian discusses financial behavior topics on Twitter and Periscope Join the @Experian_US #CreditChat every Wednesday at 3 pm Eastern time It is the perfect time to take a step back to evaluate your financial standing. Especially if you were in a situation where you were scrounging up funds to pay Uncle Sam. Do you need to adjust your budget or even create one? Do you know how to budget? If you were one of the lucky ones who expects a refund, do you feel confident in making the best financial decision on what to do with it? There are lots of resources to help guide you and answer your questions. Take advantage of those resources! To give you a jumpstart, Rod Griffin, Experian’s director of public education, has the following tips to help you improve your credit history: Review your credit report regularly —Your personal credit report is an easy-to-read record of your credit accounts and total indebtedness. Be sure to obtain a copy of your credit report once every 12 months (and especially before major purchases) and dispute any information you believe is inaccurate. You can request a copy of your report directly from Experian or once every year from Annual Credit Report. Check your credit score —Credit scores can play an important role in your financial journey. They translate the information in your credit report into a number reflecting the risk of doing business with you. To check your risk, request a credit score when you order your credit report. You will receive an explanation of what the score means and which details from your credit report are most affecting it. Keep your utilization rate low —Your utilization rate, or balance-to-limit ratio, should never exceed 30 percent of the credit limit. Your total credit card balances should never be more than 30 percent of your total credit card limits, and you don’t want any one card to have a balance of more than 30 percent of its limit. Both can hurt you. Remember, 30 percent isn’t a goal; it’s the maximum your balances should ever be. The lower your utilization rate, the better. If you have missed payments, get current and stay current —Late payments, called delinquencies, may have a major negative impact on credit scores. To see the fastest improvement in your scores, catch up on late payments and pay down your balances. Late payments are the most important indicator of credit risk, so they have the greatest and longest-lasting impact. The more recently the missed payment occurred, the greater that impact will be, and the more missed payments you have, the longer it will take to recover. If you fall behind on your payments, contact your lenders to see if they can improve the terms of your debts. Need answers to your credit questions?

About a year ago, my colleague Natalia invited me to join her in a new volunteer opportunity with the Ministry of Housing in Colombia. The Ministry had created a new program called Mi Casa Ya – which means in English “My Own Home Now,” to help people in Colombia own their first homes. Excited and eager to lend a hand, Natalia and I introduced ourselves to Alejandro, the Director of the National Housing Fund at the Ministry of Housing. Alejandro told us how an unexpected roadblock threatened to derail the program. He had created Mi Casa Ya so that even the poorest people in the country could get a government subsidy to purchase a home. To get the subsidy, they just needed to qualify for a mortgage from a local bank. But that was the problem. In order to get the bank loan, applicants needed a strong credit history. Yet most of the people looking to take advantage of the subsidy through Mi Casa Ya, he explained, were considered “credit invisible.” That is, they had no viable credit history, thin or un-scoreable credit files, or they simply had bad credit. So banks had no choice but to reject them. Natalia and I heard the frustration in Alejandro’s voice, and we knew just how we could help. We told Alejandro that if the Ministry could determine which individuals were being rejected by the banks, we could come in and build credit scores for them using Experian’s data. You see, building credit histories is the sort of thing we do every day at Experian. Over the years, Experian has innovated with analyzing traditional and alternative data sources, such as public records and magazine subscriptions, to create the most accurate and realistic picture of someone’s credit. And by unlocking the power of this data, we are able to identify the data sets that can help lenders make better decisions when making loans, especially for people with thin credit files. Working with Natalia and Alejandro for Mi Casa Ya over the past year has been incredibly rewarding – and our work here isn’t done! Since I work in the legal department at Experian, I am now involved in reaching an agreement with the Ministry of Housing to help advance this project. The details are tricky and the process is tedious, but when I think about the people whose lives we have the ability to transform, I just get excited. Because of our work, many more families in Colombia will be able to fulfill their dream of owning their own homes – that’s huge.

Growing up my dream home included a white picket fence, black shutters, a red door and an amazing backyard. Admittedly, my dream house was an exact replica of the house in the “Father of the Bride” movie. Parked in its long driveway was that brand new car. Fast forward 20 years later, I’m now a young adult uncovering the realities of adulthood and the financial behaviors it takes to attain those dreams. The question that comes to my mind frequently in the midst of financial decisions, is why am I just learning about all of this now? "We take the responsibility of educating people very seriously to help them feel confident in their decision-making. The only way to accomplish that is to ensure that effective financial education is provided throughout a person's life." – Rod Griffin, Experian director of public education Unfortunately, courses in personal finance were not part of our curriculum in school. In fact, I’m not the only one who second guesses money matters. Multiple studies have shown that consumers lack the confidence in their personal finance knowledge they need to make effective, fiscally wise decisions. A study from Mintel finds that just 19 percent of respondents give themselves an “A” grade on financial knowledge. According to the National Foundation for Credit Counseling’s 2016 Consumer Financial Literacy Survey, 45 percent of adults gave themselves grades C, D or F in rating their personal finance knowledge. Those statistics are exactly why Experian celebrates Financial Literacy Month #FLM2017 each year and why we are so heavily invested in enriching financial education in America — all year round. We want financial literacy, but more importantly, we want people to reach financial capability. It's the reason we have a dedicated public education team to educate consumers and empower clients to provide proper credit education to their customers. It’s also the reason why we financially support nonprofits that share our mission of strengthening financial education and helping individuals make better financial decisions. Our products and services can give consumers confidence in their financial decisions to get access to financial services so they too can purchase their dream house or car. Every week Experian discusses financial behavior topics on Twitter and Periscope Join the @Experian_US #CreditChat every Wednesday at 3 pm Eastern time Learning how to become financially literate takes time and something I've faced as larger life moments enter my view. I encourage others to take the time to talk about their own money matters and to take advantage of resources to improve your own financial literacy and well-being too. To learn more, see all of our activities for Financial Literacy Month.

By volunteering through Experian’s Sohos Reais – Real Dreams – project, I taught a mother of five about understanding basic business concepts so she could expand her sewing business and keep pursuing her dream. I grew up with parents who loved helping others, which fostered my love for volunteerism. Now that I work at Experian, this passion has blossomed as I’ve volunteered in many different capacities, from dressing as a clown to cheer up people in hospitals, to helping teach financial literacy to small-business owners in São Paulo, Brazil. Experian’s Sohos Reais – Real Dreams – program is designed to help connect entrepreneurs and small-business owners with experts who can advise them on how to help their business succeed. My volunteer partner, Diana, and I went through the training together, and a few months later were contacted by Aliança Empreendedora – Experian’s project partner – to help support a local entrepreneur. We were sent information about a woman named Adriana who was looking for advice for her sewing business. When we first met at Adriana’s house, she welcomed us into her home, fed us toast and black coffee, and introduced us to her five children. Adriana is a single mom whose husband left her after becoming a drug dealer. She told us how he had stopped supporting her and the children financially, and how Adriana now relied on her sewing business to support herself and the children – two of whom had serious health issues. Creating this business had been her dream since she was 12, when she had made her first dress for a school party. Now, she sewed colorful shopping bags and purses every day that she sold for R$1.25 a piece – a tiny price compared with the amount of work it took her to produce them. While she loved her job, Adriana told us that the money she made from her sales barely allowed her to cover basic living expenses, like water and electricity. She was on the brink of giving up her dream. The more we talked with Adriana, the more Diana and I realized that what she needed most was someone to help her understand basic business concepts, like cost and revenue. I thought that if we could help her control the money going out, we could solve a lot of her problems. Adriana was eager to learn, so right then and there, I showed her how, by keeping track of costs and profits, she could pay her bills and start to save money for her family. After our first meeting, a group of us from Experian were so inspired by her story that we raised R$1,415 for Adriana to buy fabric for her bags, and gave her a book to help her track her finances. Now every time we meet, Adriana brings the book with her, full of notes – she says it helps her work out her profit from the bags she sells so she knows how much more fabric she can buy. I never imagined that just sharing my financial knowledge with someone could help change their life. By volunteering with Real Dreams, Diana and I helped Adriana get back on her feet and continue pursuing her dream as a small-business owner and provider for her family.  

I recently attended a conference in Alwar, India, hosted by Experian and the International Finance Corporation. During one of the sessions, I met a single mother of two who had recently moved to a rural village in India. Her husband had left her and she was hoping to pick up work as a tailor once she purchased a sewing machine to support her family. As we talked, she confided in me that she was having trouble securing a loan from microfinance institutions because she didn’t have papers to prove her identity. And since she was new to the village, no one knew who she was. Without a proven identity, she couldn’t qualify for a loan and get the money she needed to support herself and feed her children. Indian banks predominantly serve urban customers whose credit reports are extensive. However, most customers from smaller districts and rural towns – like this woman – can fit their credit history on less than a page. Identification may be the only way they can verify their character to secure a loan. As I sat with this woman, I started telling her about our Prove ID tool that I had recently helped to develop. Using an individual’s biometrics, the tool would search her credit history, bank card and any information that can prove she is who she claimed to be. I explained that by using this tool, she could now prove what village she’s from, that she was a permanent resident in her new village and that she was likely to repay her loan. She was stunned and overwhelmed. In that moment, I realized that rural clients often need human connection to clearly understand what a bank or microfinance institution requires in order to obtain a loan. Many rural customers can’t read the brochures or pamphlets sitting in a bank, but by engaging them in conversation, you can effectively educate them about how to prove their identities and build their credit profiles to successfully access the finances they need. As a Product Developer for banks, I sometimes get so caught up on how to make products run that I lose sight of how the work I do impacts the community. Helping one woman discover Prove-ID to secure a loan and provide for her family inspired me. I want to continue being more involved in my community to help others who may not be literate learn how to prove their identities so they can better support their families.

The field of data science is still in its infancy.  Every day, new advancements are helping to yield more exciting results. We’re learning how data can allow cities to provide more effective services for residents, how it can help to solve vexing health riddles, and how companies can leverage data to better serve consumers. But for advancements to be achieved, collaboration between research institutions and the private sector is essential. Even more essential is ensuring that the next generation of data scientists are equipped with the latest knowledge and resources to continue to advance the field. That’s why we are excited to announce Experian’s $750,000 gift to create the Experian Assistant Professorship in Machine Learning at Chapman University, which will be used to expand machine learning opportunities at Chapman University’s Machine Learning and Assistive Technology Lab (MLAT), where Chapman researchers use big data and technology to address challenges of social significance like autism. We believe this investment is a necessary step in an ongoing commitment to ensure our Southern California community continues to fuel economic growth by ensuring that businesses like Experian have the talent to advance field of information services. The assistant professorship will be held by Erik Linstead, Ph.D., the director of the undergraduate computing programs in computer science, software engineering, and data analytics. Dr. Linstead, one of the nation’s leading authorities on big data, is also the principal investigator MLAT. Experian has learned the value of attracting data scientists with a wide degree of interests, backgrounds, and professional experiences to help assist our clients best serve consumers. Similarly, MLAT seeks to do the same. Projects that they take on range from bioinformatics and molecular biology to machine learning and artificial intelligence. Experian’s gift will help MLAT to expand their data science-focused efforts into new fields. This gift is the latest of a long series of collaborations between Chapman and Experian. Several years ago, Experian and Chapman began a partnership that involved placing graduate students training to become data scientists in internships within Experian to provide them real-world, hands on training. Since then, the partnership has blossomed to include embedding a Chapman faculty member within Experian to better ground the academic community on how data scientists work within the private sector to better shape their curriculum. We’ve also supported scholarships and programs at Chapman to ensure that the field of data science remains inclusive, diverse, and talented. Data science will inevitably continue to have a growing impact on our lives. This gift is a commitment to the future of data science and the promise of a better tomorrow that it holds. We wish a congratulations to Dr. Linstead, and look forward to a continued stream of talent emerging from Chapman to continue to advance the field and produce better outcomes for everyone. Photo of the check presentation courtesy of Christopher Simonson. Pictured (L-R): Dean of Schmid College of Science and Technology Andrew Lyon, EVP of University Advancement Sheryl Bourgeois, President of Experian Consumer Services Guy Abramo and Principal Investigator of the MLAT Lab Erik Linstead.

Spanish Translation I’m a Senior Product Manager in Experian’s Fraud and Identity Solutions department, which means I partner with data scientists to protect banks and their customers from fraud. When most people think of fraud, they envision someone trying to open a bank account in someone else’s name. However, it wasn’t until I did a series of customer visits with big banks to understand their struggles and discovered a pervasive form of fraud in the finance industry called “bust-out” fraud. In a "bust-out" fraud, an individual applies for a credit card in their own name, establishes a normal usage pattern and builds a solid repayment history. Then, when they’re ready to execute their scam, they max out all their available lines of credit from various lenders, disappear and leave the banks with the losses. Meanwhile, the money could be funneled into funding many types of organized crime, from human trafficking to drug trading and other illicit activities. What makes this type of crime all the harder to identify and catch before it occurs is that the person applying for a credit card is who they say they are. So it’s not about identity theft. To address this issue, my team and I created a solution called BustOut ScoreSM. We began by reviewing data from different banks to identify patterns where bust-outs occurred. From there, we built a score that predicts the likelihood that an individual will execute the scam — months before the scam occurs. Our clients now use this tool both when opening new accounts and as part of account management. The tool flags suspicious-looking accounts, which our team then manually reviews to evaluate if the account is truly at risk for a bust-out. If it is, we work with our clients to freeze or close out those suspicious accounts. Finding solutions to a fraud problem that hasn’t been solved is probably my favorite part of the job. I love seeing products that solve real issues affecting real people come to life — from inception to launch. Helping protect people from identity theft and fraud is what gives me purpose and meaning in my work. I am proud to use the power of data as a force for good.

There’s no arguing the importance of data to the marketing industry, but it’s equally important for marketers to leverage data in a responsible manner. On March 22, the Data & Marketing Association (DMA) held the Dynamic State of Data conference in Washington, D.C. to highlight critical public policy initiatives the industry is currently engaged in Congress and state legislatures across the country. The conference included remarks from Senator Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Maureen Ohlhausen on their views of why data driven marketing is vital to our nation’s economic engine. Additionally, Liz Oesterle, Experian’s Senior Director for Government Affairs and Public Policy, participated in a panel discussion on the DMA’s Data Standards 2.0 initiative. The Data Standards 2.0 will tackle new high profile and emergent data issues, and update DMA’s marketing compliance standards – DMA’s Guidelines for Ethical Business Practice – focusing them to be more relevant for today’s data practices. During the panel, Oesterle outlined why industry self-regulation and the Data Standards 2.0 initiative is critical for responsible information sharing. In addition to providing business and compliance teams with certainty, Oesterle said “self-regulation helps to get in front of potential legislative and regulatory action by demonstrating to policymakers the industry is able to address any potential issues.” Stu Ingis, a Partner at Venable and DMA’s Legal Counsel, also participated in the panel. Ingis provided background on the Data Standards 2.0 initiative and discussed some of the areas in which the updates are expected to address, including cross-device tracking; data security; compliance with health and children’s data privacy; onboarding; and the Internet of Things. "Experian believes that self-regulation, like the DMA Data Standards 2.0, strengthens consumer protections, allows for responsible innovation and creates regulatory certainty,” said Oesterle. Photo courtesy of: The Data & Marketing Association  

I’m a Business Systems Specialist on Experian’s Information Technology Services team. While the work I do is largely behind the scenes, the data I process helps power advertising campaigns, provide accurate credit score reports to consumers and enable people who might not otherwise have access to credit to achieve their goals. The most valuable thing I can provide the businesses Experian works with is accurate data, because data is the backbone of a business. I run systems and support software that helps process the data for Experian’s products and services, and work to ensure businesses have access to the most accurate data sets. Businesses from across different sectors send us data about their consumers—like if an individual paid rent or a bill on time — that we update into our databases so that when that person applies for a loan or to rent an apartment, our data is timely and accurately reflects that individual’s true credit score. Accuracy can be the difference between a person getting a lease or having to look elsewhere. The data I help process and service is used for other business purposes as well, like advertising campaigns. Marketers will send us a list of the demographics they’re looking to reach. I help aggregate and compare those lists of demographics against the data we already have on hand to provide that client with an accurate list of addresses. Armed with that timely, accurate information, those businesses can reach their target audience and increase revenue for that quarter – and consumers benefit from more targeted messaging from companies they care about. I joined Experian more than 20 years ago, and have seen it evolve and grow from essentially a traditional credit bureau to a global information services enterprise. For me, the extent to which we as a company can provide services that empower consumers to succeed on their life’s journey has always been the end deliverable. Read more #ExperianStories from our colleagues around the world.

International Women's Day is all about celebration, reflection, advocacy, and action. At Experian, we work hard to create a culture of inclusion as we believe the diversity of our skills and life experiences allow us to better serve our clients. With this in mind, our campuses around the world curated a programme of inspiring speakers, workshops and tours to highlight the opportunities that are available to women in the technology sector. Women across Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, United States and the United Kingdom had the opportunity to hear from women leaders across our organisations. Below are just some of the events that took place across our regions to celebrate International Women's Day: Brazil Brazil hosted an impressive panel of influential women both from within Experian and other organisations including: Banco Original and U.N. Women. The ‘Inspiring Girls in IT’ event was attended by girls from local schools as well relatives of Experian employees. “People used to say that IT was the future and I wanted to be economically independent,” said Hewlett Packard Bell’s Claudia Braga speaking at Experian’s Women in IT event in Brazil. The panel debate and workshops gave the girls an insight into career opportunities within IT as well as a chance to learn from woman who have already forged a successful career in the sector. Colombia As well as hosting an event for young women to learn more about technical careers, our Colombia office also released a special edition of its quarterly Credit Indicators Newsletter focusing on women and credit. One of the key findings from the report found that 1 in every 5 new credit lines is given to female micro- entrepreneurs — who doubled their loans in the real sector. There’s also a whopping 62% annual growth of revenue-generating credit products for women between the first quarter of 2015 and the third quarter of 2016.  “When it comes to credit and entrepreneurship in Colombia, we can certainly say the future is female,” said Mauricio Angulo, Experian’s managing director for Spanish LATAM. Costa Rica To celebrate International Women's Day, our Costa Rica campus invited four women from their IT department to share their stories on why they pursued a career in IT. The panel included: Lead de Quality Assurance and Compliance Tatiana Salazar; Software QA Analyst and President of Experian´s Employee Solidarist Association, Cindy Vargas; GSA Client Apps Manager, María Valverde; and Lead de Service and Delivery team, Monica Barrantes. England Four of our UK offices took the opportunity to celebrate International Women’s Day by holding local events as part of their 'Women in Experience' networks. In Nottingham, the team invited senior women for Experian to share their success stories with local girls; it was also a chance for the girls to find out more about Experian’s culture and career opportunities. The women in our EITS office held a lunch and learn session with young girls from the area to share job insights and offer advice on how to secure a position in the tech industry. As part of the celebration, the UK team also took the opportunity to sit down with some of the innovative women who work within Experian to glean some insight into how they overcame adversity in what is considered a male dominated industry. Laura Blackwell who works within our IT Service shared her advice on how women can secure a job in IT. “Stick to your guns, even in the face of adversity. If you enjoy doing IT, don’t let anything put you off achieving your dreams. It’s also a good idea to find a company to work for that will allow you the sort of flexibility to learn about different disciplines that I’ve found here at Experian.” United States Our team in Costa Mesa, California held a ‘Women in Experian' Expo, which included an executive speaker panel who shared their insights and thoughts on this year's event theme 'Be Bold for Change.' From awareness-raising to concrete action, attendees learned about how these executives demonstrated boldness in their careers to eliminate bias and foster inclusive work cultures. Hiq Lee, President of Experian’s Business Information Services Unit shared her own experiences on how she secured her role at Experian and offered some advice for young women in the audience on how to ask for workplace opportunities: “You are deserving of every opportunity,” said Hiq Lee, President of Experian’s Business Information Services Unit speaking to young women at Experian’s North American event. The IWD event in Costa Mesa was  streamed live on Periscope and clips from sessions from both Brazil and the United States were featured on Snapchat. The team in Allen, Texas encouraged Experian employees to bring their daughters, nieces and sisters to their ‘Future Female Technologists’ event. The panel included top female Experian employees to share their insights and expertise about how to pursue a career in technology. DeMarcus Brown, who works within Enterprise Systems Management, and Jessie Montano from our Firewall team provided an update to the girls on the range of Early Career options available at Experian. We’d like to thank all of our teams from across the globe for their commitment to helping women and girls achieve their ambitions. Our role in promoting gender equality is increasingly important and we will continue to dedicate our time and resources to help women lead.  

As part of Credit Awareness Week, Experian and Credit Strategy are launching a new credit refusal pathfinder to help people understand the lending process and how they can tackle a credit refusal. It can be a real pain when you make an unsuccessful credit application, especially when you can’t see why you were refused. “But I’ve got a good credit score!”, “But I pay all my bills on time!”, “But I don’t even have a credit card!” people may say. When you apply for a credit card, loan or even a mobile phone contract, it’s up to the lender to decide whether or not to offer you credit – and they have varying methods to work out if you’re eligible. New research from Credit Strategy, Experian and the CFA* has found a whopping 86% say that they should be offered a clearer explanation about why they have been declined credit. Many people completely misunderstand the credit-decision-making process; 26% of UK adults wrongly think the credit reference agency makes the decision to turn down applications for a loan, while 32% think credit reference agencies decide to approve credit cards. The reality is that lenders decide which customers to accept and refuse, with one or more credit reference agency simply providing information to help the decision. In fact, industry guidelines require lenders to tell people the main reason for refusing credit, but only if they ask. Does being refused credit affect your credit score? The research also found that 75% of the population think that being refused credit affects your credit score. Being refused for credit is not, in itself, hazardous for your credit score. While your credit report will show that you applied for a credit card – it stays on for a year – it won’t actually show whether or not you were accepted. However, credit refusal can often lead to more attempts to get credit – and making a lot of applications in a short space of time could have a serious impact on your credit score, and your ability to get credit in the future. Some common reasons to be refused credit: You’ve missed or made late credit payments recently, which show up on your credit report You’ve had a default or a CCJ in the past six years, which will show up on your credit report You’ve made too many credit applications in a short space of time in the past six months There are mistakes such as incorrect addresses or other errors on your application form You may not fall into the target bracket for the type of credit you’ve applied for Your Experian UK Credit Score tells you how lenders may view you, which is useful when you apply for credit – and is FREE FOREVER. The higher your credit score, the more chance of being accepted for credit, at the best rates. * Conducted by YouGov on behalf of Credit Strategy, Experian and the Consumer Finance Association (CFA), 10th – 13th March 2017