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In the wake of some of the largest data breaches in history, which were specifically payment card breaches, we thought it would be insightful to take a closer look at how companies are dealing with the aftermath. We are proud to partner with the Ponemon Institute, a premier research think tank, to release the first industry study that closely examines payment technologies and the growing threat of data breaches. The study, “Data Security in the Evolving Payments Ecosystem,” asked professionals to weigh in on several topics including who should be responsible for securing payment systems and how effective their organizations is in preparing for and responding to a payment card breach. New technologies bring consumer convenience and increased security concerns Executives are feeling the challenges of keeping up with the security of emerging systems. While most executives support implementation of EMV chip and PIN technology, for example, with 59 percent of survey respondents indicating it is an important part of their organization’s payment strategy, they do not feel it is the security silver bullet. Barely more than half of respondents (53 percent) believe EMV cards will decrease the risk of a data breach. However, companies are pressured to integrate new systems acknowledging consumer convenience and preferences. More than half accept that risk (53 percent) and noted that, for their company, customer convenience is more important than security. Reality has set in The recent high profile data breaches have had a profound effect on business and they now realize how devastating a breach can be on company reputation and loss of revenue. In fact, a majority of survey respondents (69 percent) are most concerned about loss of customer loyalty after a data breach and fraudulent charges on customers’ payment cards (55 percent). In looking inward, they also do not feel their company is effective in responding to payment card breaches (35 percent). On the right track  It seems not a day goes by without the media reporting on a data breach. This has had an effect as 69 percent of survey respondents said media coverage of payment breaches over the past year caused their organizations to re-evaluate and prioritize security. It’s encouraging to see that this is leading to action; companies are seeing increased attention from the c-suite, with 67 percent of survey respondents saying their executives are more supportive of enhanced security measures to protect payment information. Furthermore, 45 percent of survey respondents increased their security budgets, and 41 percent hired more security staff. Industry collaboration is lacking While companies are doing more, they realize there is still even more to be done. Sixty-five percent of survey respondents said they are increasing employee training (65 percent) and improving or putting a data breach response plan in place (56 percent of survey respondents). Payment professionals also recognize that solving current and emerging security concerns can’t be the job of a single entity. There is consensus on the need for cooperation, with 85 percent of survey respondents agreeing that industry collaboration is critical to achieving a high level of security in the emerging payment ecosystem. And there is certainly room to grow, as the current level of industry collaboration is considered minimal (30 percent of respondents) to nonexistent (20 percent) by survey respondents. The security outlook for all those organizations involved in the payment ecosystem is mixed.  It will be challenging to constantly keep up the pace with new technologies and ward off cybercriminals 24-7, while satisfying consumers who value the benefits of emerging systems. The best path forward for companies is to face the issue head on and prepare for the inevitable data breach and their incident response to mitigate the fallout. To access the full report, Data Security in the Evolving Payments Ecosystem, visit Experian.com/databreach.  

Millennials are considered the “Me Me Me” generation. Why shouldn’t they be? Aged 18–34, millennials have everything going for them in today’s economy. The job market is favorable, and as the creators of advancing technology, they’re poised for growth. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the “millennial” generation is projected to surpass the outsized baby-boomer generation this year to be the nation’s largest living generation. How are millennials handling credit? This is a generation unique in its behaviors and mindful of its financial position going forward. The choices millennials make as they enter their peak spending years will have a direct impact on the credit market. This is a ballooning opportunity for lenders, and it makes sense for marketers to design their brand experience to target this generation. However, lenders need to understand what appeals to millenials to reach this group. As part of our upcoming Vision 2015 session, we’re giving lenders the analytical insight they need to understand this generation better. This session will explore housing, auto, bankcard and student loan trends in credit establishment, and how millennials compare to Gen X when they were the same age. Our analysis shows that millennials haven’t fully embraced credit. They understand the importance of building credit; however, they’re adopting bankcards at a slower rate than their Gen X counterparts when they were the same age. Forty-six percent of Gen Xers had bankcards when they were 18–34 years old. On the other hand, 27 percent of millennials have bankcards, which is half the rate of the previous generation. Every generation is different and every business is trying to capture the millennials’ attention. How should lenders go about building trust and a lasting relationship with millennials? We took to the streets to speak to millennials firsthand to give you an opportunity to hear their perspective. Come join us to discover “Four great insights about millennials in 40 minutes” and rethink how you can reach millennials at the right time with the right message.

With the objective of supporting the local community and helping Orange County residents overcome financial issues, we have partnered with the Orange County Rescue Mission (OCRM) to spread financial literacy by providing residents with the insight and resources to guide them on a journey to independence. As part of this program, Experian is offering at no charge its Experian Credit EducatorSM product, a tool designed to provide consumers with one-on-one telephone-based education sessions and guide them through important information related to their credit lives. This innovative tool helps prepare consumers for career exploration, future employment opportunities, home rentals and other important financial decisions. We were eager to strengthen our partnership with OCRM because our company strongly supports its goal of providing the homeless with the skills and resources to become self-sufficient. Within 30–60 days of entering OCRM, residents will work with an Experian volunteer to schedule their session. An agent will provide individuals with a copy of their credit report and help them review, understand and improve their credit score. This session enables the resident to identify any potential issues with their credit report or score, while learning the fundamentals of credit reporting from a reputable resource. The phone-based sessions usually take 35 minutes. A significant number of OCRM members have been empowered with in-depth information to take important steps toward improving their financial literacy. The initiative is part of Experian’s broader mission to promote data for good by leveraging insights from the use of Big Data into actionable solutions that benefit consumers, businesses and government organizations. Experian already has provided more than 25 sessions to the OCRM’s members and is on schedule to deliver 15–20 a month as new OCRM members become integrated into the independent-living and job-training programs. OC Register Coverage: New O.C. program helps homeless people fix their credit By Theresa Walker Back when she was living on the streets and panhandling to buy food and drugs, a good credit score was the last thing Jody Puckett figured she needed. “Credit wasn’t even something on my mind because we were living day to day,” Puckett said of the way she and her husband had existed for six years, mostly living in his truck. “We were thinking about how we were going to get a roof over our heads. And food. And dope.” It took nearly two years with Orange County Rescue Mission’s live-in Village of Hope rehabilitation program for Puckett, 46, and her husband, Devin, 47, to shed that sketchy old life and start anew. Now, good credit does matter to the Pucketts. They are clean and sober, working and hope to buy a home someday for themselves and their 7-year-old daughter. Read full article here. Experian Consumer Counsel: Volunteers Helping People Manage Their Credit

With 90 percent of the data in the world being created in the last two years, now more than ever, we need to know how to get the most out of our data-driven economy because the power of data can be a tremendous force for good in the world. It is with this in mind that we are unveiling a suite of online initiatives that will help businesses and consumers benefit from the positive uses Big Data can bring to the marketplace. Leading the way are the new #DataTalk conversations that will take place as a hosted TweetChat. The first #DataTalk chat, on “What it Means to be a Data Scientist,” will take place on April 23 at 5 p.m. Eastern time and features special guests Dr. Michael Wu, the chief scientist at Lithium, and Dr. Shanji Xiong, chief scientist of Experian’s global Experian DataLabs. Online resources We have also developed blogs, podcasts and a video series that illustrate how Big Data can be analyzed with technology and data science in order to bring powerful insights to consumers and businesses, large and small. These insights can help consumers take control of their financial health and help businesses obtain better bottom-line performance. Experian Insights Blog Insights from Experian thought leaders that discuss the good that data is doing now and the promise it holds for the future. Experian Insights Podcast A show dedicated to sharing concrete ways we can turn Big Data into actionable insights to help businesses and consumers. During the first episode, Craig Boundy, former Chief Executive Officer of Experian North America shares his thoughts on Big Data in 2015. Experian Insights Video Series Short videos that provide a close-up look at how Experian manages and analyzes Big Data and the latest business trends in a variety of industry segments. Our Data For Good initiative reflects the company's belief that Big Data and the insights derived from it are good for the economy, good for people and good for society. The #DataTalk conversations and exchange of ideas, along with blog posts, podcasts and a video series, provides a platform where industry leaders and Experian experts can share their distinct perspectives on the evolving world of Big Data and analytics. As you will see, the many examples of how data and the insights derived from it are clearly changing our society for good. If we work together proactively to advance data for good, with the right process, tools and people, we have an opportunity to transform our economy and the ways in which we operate within it.  

A behind-the-wheel look at alternative-power vehicles:

For years, brands lacked the means to create highly relevant and meaningful interactions with their customers. Today, that has changed–and the demand has never been greater. According to Experian Marketing Services’ State of Cross-Channel Marketing Report, marketers from around the world are adopting more customer-centric engagement strategies. With cross-channel marketing technology and predictive analytical tools becoming smarter and more accessible to marketers, they have the ability to help brands manage data, understand the preferences of their customers and most importantly, turn that intelligence into action across every channel at scale. This evolution of technology has created a clear shift in the industry as more marketers look to technology providers like Experian to help them get and stay close to their customers. As described in the report, brands today are more customer-centric in their marketing than they were just a year ago. The report, which leverages year-over-year survey results, highlights several trends: Organizations today are more customer-centric than in 2013 Enterprise brands, like multichannel retailers, are asking their customers to set their own preferences: Brands today are 62 percent more likely to give their subscribers the ability to set their own preferences for branded communications than they were in 2013. Further, they are 89 percent more likely to allow them to select the type of messages that they receive and 48 percent more likely to give options for how often subscribers want to receive those communications. Retailers are 87 percent more likely today to ask their customers to set their own preferences on communications channels (email, mobile, direct, social, etc.) and 65 percent more likely to allow them to set their category and product preferences. Further, retailers are 131 percent more likely to acquire mobile numbers through preference centers than nonretailers. Marketers are taking action to improve their data hygiene: Marketers are 53 percent more likely to execute data hygiene techniques than they were in 2013. Retailers are 13 percent less likely to undertake some form of data-hygiene process than nonretailers. However, when they do prioritize data hygiene, retailers are 38 percent more likely to use a data-hygiene provider than nonretail brands. Brands are leveraging segmentation well beyond simple demographics: More marketers are building segmentation strategies that focus on behavior and lifetime customer value over demographics. Overall, the majority of marketers (25 percent) segment customer based on past activity or behavior. When it comes to email marketing, marketers are 6 percent more likely to execute some form of email segmentation than in 2013. The most popular forms of email segmentation are activity- and transaction-based triggers. Interestingly, the amount performing language segmentation increased the most year-over-year (+76 percent), followed by value segmentation (+40 percent). Marketers are testing their campaigns to understand what works for their customers: Ninety-two percent of marketers are testing their marketing programs to understand customer preferences and marketers are more likely to focus on testing campaign performance in email than in other channels. Testing allows marketers to identify underperforming campaigns and adjust in real-time. For example, marketers testing offers may bring to light that a target consumer responds better to a “dollars off” than a “percentage off” offer. Those results can be used to determine where similar improvements can be made to other channels. Marketers are 42 percent more likely today to view time-of-day testing as an effective test in 2014 than they did in 2013. Meanwhile, nonretailers are 64 percent more likely to claim effectiveness in creative testing than last year. Significant barriers to customer-centric marketing remain While marketers clearly are showing improvement in their customer-centric marketing strategies, only 4 percent of brands reported having an integrated customer journey across touch points. Marketers cited siloed marketing organizations (39 percent) and a product-focused structure versus a customer-focused one (28 percent) as the primary barriers. The research indicates that marketers need to improve in several key areas: Data Management and Linkage: Seventy-nine percent of companies face challenges when connecting disparate data to create a single customer view. Attribution: Marketers continue to struggle to measure results and understand how to improve. Last-touch attribution is prevalent among brand marketers, with 70 percent giving credit only to the last channel that the customer interacted with before making a purchase. A marketer’s ability to collect, integrate, analyze and optimize data intelligently to arrive at meaningful and actionable customer insights is central to cross-channel marketing success and is the key to customer-centric marketing. In today’s industry, marketers have the means to extract actionable business intelligence from their data and can now access how well they can use that intelligence to drive enhanced results for the customer. Those marketers who are struggling with customer-centricity need to prioritize attribution. If they have the ability to show how cross-channel relevance drives customer loyalty and ultimately benefits their business’s bottom line, this gives the marketing organization a clear business case to make the customer, rather than a channel, a top priority across the organization. To learn more about customer-centricity and the state of cross channel marketing, download the report, here.