Most people shopping for a new car ask themselves that question all the time. In fact, there are many questions that surround whether to buy or lease a vehicle. What are the benefits of one over the other? Would my payment be lower if I leased? What if I decided to buy the car after, would there be a penalty? Recently, these questions became very real to me when I found myself having to shop for a new car following the untimely death of my husband’s previous vehicle. The deceased was the typical “Dude” car – huge engine, power everything and it was bright yellow. For the new car, I wanted him to get something a bit more sensible; He wanted everything he had before and then some. So, as you can imagine, shopping was a lot of fun (insert sarcasm here). I am glad to say, however, that what we ended up with made us both very happy and satisfied. We ultimately agreed upon a brand new dark gray metallic mid-sized sedan with lots of nice features to please the gadget fanatic in my husband, and a fuel efficient engine to please the economical budgetista in me. And for the first time in our adult lives, we leased! As it turns out, Experian Automotive’s recently released State of the Automotive Finance Market report showed that lots of folks are making that same decision. In fact, this quarter’s report said that automotive leasing achieved the highest level since the organization began tracking the data in 2006. According to the report, leasing accounted for a record 27.5 percent of all new vehicles financed, up from 24.4 percent in Q1 2012. Additionally, findings showed that the average monthly payment for a new vehicle financed in Q1 was $459, down from $462 in Q1 2012. While leasing a vehicle can help consumers achieve a lower monthly payment, the report also showed a rise in loan term lengths (65 months in Q1 2013, up from 64 months in Q1 2012) and a decrease in interest rates (4.5 percent in Q1 2013, down from 4.6 percent in Q1 2012), which helped to keep payments low for new vehicles financed. In Q1, the average loan amount for a new vehicle financed increased by $628, going from $26,020 in Q1 2012, to $26,648 in Q1 2013. The average used vehicle loan increased $461, going from $17,071 in Q1 2012, to $17,532 in Q1 2013. Check out the full press release. For more information on this report and other automotive-related insights, please visit www.Experian.com/Automotive.
Consumers are can now be notified when their personal information is being used in an authentication transaction, allowing them to assess whether or not they recognize and expect their identity to be in review by a business. The service enables consumers to respond to the notification, and in cases of potential fraud, to be directed to seamless and effective resolution assistance. “In the war against fraud, financial institutions, retailers and identity monitoring service providers must deploy innovative technologies that can accurately detect identity theft as close to a transaction as possible,” said Julie Conroy, research director for Aite Group. “Bringing consumers themselves into the fraud prevention process provides another layer of vigilance, which enables businesses not only to better protect their customers and prevent losses, but also to establish a stronger relationship with the consumer.” The ability to accurately alert potential fraud victims as close to a transaction as possible provides business clients and their monitored consumer base with the tools needed to head off potential identity theft while it is in flight. With this service, Experian is helping its clients give consumers additional insight to their identity usage well beyond traditional credit inquiries. As online and mobile transactions continue to explode, consumers want to be alerted not only to inquiries to their credit profile, but also to any use of their personal information in non-face-to-face transactions. Precise ID Personal Protection Alerts enable direct-to-consumer service providers to engage consumers by notifying them when their identity has been verified across any of Experian’s identity authentication services. Within seconds, the service alerts consumers via text, email or mobile app during a transaction involving their identity and gives them the opportunity to stop identity theft before it occurs. The product is designed to provide accurate and timely notification to consumers via its partners that provide identity monitoring services. Alerts contain detailed information that allows individuals to quickly recognize and assess the legitimate or fraudulent use of their identity. In cases of potential fraud, consumers are directed to reconciliation services and, if necessary, to the financial institution, retailer or other service provider that initiated the transaction.
When it comes to credit, who is winning the battle between men and women? The latest credit trends study, released today from global information services company Experian, compares the financial differences between men and women, revealing that, overall, women are better at managing their money and debt.
When it comes to credit, who is winning the battle between men and women? The latest credit trends study, released today from global information services company Experian, compares the financial differences between men and women, revealing that, overall, women are better at managing their money and debt. For the first time, Experian® analyzed credit scores, average debt, utilization ratios, mortgage amounts and mortgage delinquencies of men and women in the United States. While the national credit scores only vary slightly — with a one point difference — other differences between the population of men and women include the following: Men have 4.3 percent more debt than women Men have a 2 percent higher credit utilization amount Mortgage loan amounts for men are 4.9 percent higher Men have a higher incidence of late mortgage payments by 7 percent Below is a top-line look at how men and women fared when compared with each other: “When looking closer at our data and cross-referencing it with other data sources, we see that women working full-time in the United States earn approximately 23 percent less income3 than men but that women are taking steps to manage their finances better than men,” said Michele Raneri, vice president of analytics, Experian. “The most notable difference is that men are taking bigger individual mortgage loans than women, but it would appear that they are having a slightly more difficult time making those payments on time.” Mortgage insights Some of the most compelling differences in the study were found in the mortgage category. On average, 72 percent of consumers have joint mortgages (a home loan given to more than one party) and the remaining number represents men and women who borrowed on an individual/independent basis. The data reveals that throughout the United States, men have 18.3 percent more independent mortgages than women, with one exception: Women in Washington, D.C., take out 33 percent more loans than men. See below for a closer look at the states with most and least independent mortgages by gender. With men having more individual mortgages and higher loan amounts when compared with women, where are the most interesting trends when it comes to their loans and financial health? The most significant difference at the state level is in Connecticut, where the average man has a mortgage loan of $229,510 and the average for women is $175,276, creating a gap of 24 percent between them. Men in Connecticut also have late payments 13.6 percent more often than women, carry an average debt that is 8.6 percent higher and have a 5.6 percent higher utilization amount than women. Florida stands out in the study, as the men and women in the Sunshine State both have some financial strain, but women still maintain a better financial picture on average. West Palm Beach, Fla. — Men have 24 percent higher mortgage amounts than women, and their occurrences of late payments on them are 17.5 percent higher than women. Miami, Fla. — Both sexes are struggling to pay their mortgages on time, with men’s occurrences of late payments at 13.1 percent and women’s at 12.7 percent, with a difference of only 2.8 percent between the two. The women in Miami, though, have a 6.9 percent lower average debt than men, which indicates they are approaching their debts better. “Seeing the divide between how men and women approach credit is interesting, but what’s most important is understanding the value of building a good credit history. How you manage credit and debt is critical to your financial well-being,” said Maxine Sweet, Experian vice president of public education. “Paying attention to what’s in your credit report, never missing a payment, and keeping your utilization rates low are three key steps to financial success.” Additional data resources More details from the analysis — including an infographic and statistics for more than 100 U.S. cities and states — are available at Experian’s LiveCreditSmart.com. Experian is sponsoring a TweetChat with @Wisebread on May 23 at 3 p.m. Eastern time focused on the credit differences between men and women. Register at wisebread.com and follow #wbchat. Experian hosts a #CreditChat on Twitter every Wednesday at 3 p.m. Eastern time with consumer credit experts Maxine Sweet and Rod Griffin. Follow @Experian_US to join in. Analysis methodology The analysis is based on a statistically relevant, sampling of depersonalized data of Experian’s consumer credit database from December 2012. Gender information was obtained from Experian Marketing Services.
In the spirit of National Financial Literacy Month, freecreditscore.com created this infographic to share some simple credit tips: [Download the full infographic here.]
When Kermit the frog said, “It’s not that easy being green,” he may not have been referring to the automotive market, but he may have been on to something. Hybrid/alternative power vehicles are one of the smallest segments in the U.S., and have only just recently achieved a little more than one percent of the total vehicles in operation. However, according to Experian Automotive’s recently released Earth Day report, the segment has witnessed steady market share growth, increasing by 40.9 percent since 2011. The report focused on some of the characteristics of a hybrid owner, as well as the financial attributes of hybrid vehicle loans. The infographic here provides a snapshot of a hybrid owner, highlighting that 53 percent are women and that 16 percent of hybrid owners are 25 to 34 years old. Additionally, the report found that it’s not just “green” consumers that purchase hybrids: only eight percent want to be viewed as environmentally conscious. The analysis, in fact, showed consumers purchasing a hybrid have significantly higher credit scores than those purchasing another type of new vehicle. For example, the average credit score for a loan on a new hybrid was 790 compared with the national average credit score of 755 for a loan on any new vehicle. Other loan attributes in the analysis included the average amount financed, monthly payment, interest rate and loan terms of hybrid vehicles purchased in 2012. The analysis also showed that Toyota hybrid vehicles made up more than 62 percent of the vehicles financed in 2012. For more information on this report or other automotive-related insights, please visit ExperianAutomotive.com.
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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/.