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In our increasingly digital world, there’s a growing expectation among consumers to only receive personal and relevant content from brands. However, with the proliferation of devices, delivering on this expectation is becoming more of a challenge. It’s more difficult than ever for advertisers to understand their audience and reach them across all marketing channels. But, Experian is here to help. We recently announced our activation partners program –  a natural next step in our commitment to helping brands uncover the right audience segments and deliver advertising campaigns that resonate with consumers. We’re teaming up with marketing technology leaders such as 4C, Adaptly, Brand Networks, Kenshoo, SocialCode and Unified to help brands deliver relevant content. Through the activation partners program, marketers can leverage their own first-party data, third-party data from Experian’s ConsumerViewSM marketing database, or a combination of the two, to build audience segments and optimize campaigns. Then, they can work with any of the marketing technology partners to deliver personalized advertisements to people across any marketing channel — including social media, television and mobile, as well as all major media organizations. This program helps brands unlock the power of data and technology to make the right marketing decisions and better connect with individuals. And with more than 30 years in the advertising business, consumer privacy is at the heart of what we do and the way we work. We remain vigilant when it comes to data security and integrity, including our own commitment to strict standards regarding permissible uses of data. Ultimately, partnerships like this help move the industry forward. We know the advertising industry is evolving and we see this as an opportunity for continuous innovation. As always, our goal is to bring that innovation and power to brands through the solutions—and partnerships—we create.

The ramifications of child identity theft can have a long-lasting impact into adulthood.  According to a recent Experian survey among 500 child identity theft victims who are now adults, one in four survey respondents are still dealing with issues more than 10 years after the fact, and 35% have sought professional help in dealing with related stress, anxiety, anger or depression related to the theft. Child identity theft is also a growing problem; it was reported by Javelin that more than one million children were victims in 2017.  This disturbing trend makes our newest free offer very timely: a free, one-time Child ID Scan that checks if the Social Security number (SSN) for a child (under age 18) is associated with an Experian credit file. If a credit file is found, Experian’s Fraud Resolution team will assist the parent or legal guardian with next steps. Not only do we offer a free opportunity for parents to see if their child might be a fraud victim – but we have added a Family Plan in our IdentityWorks protection product so parents, with a paid membership plan, can include up to 10 children. Newly redesigned last year, our Family Plan offers two membership packages at competitive price points with more features than ever before such as social network monitoring, CreditLock, sex offender registry alerts, and FICO Score updates, among other benefits.  The solution covers minors with ongoing monitoring for the child’s SSN on the dark web, the common name for the burgeoning illegal Internet marketplace where information is often bought and sold among thieves. To help generate nationwide awareness of the serious threat of child identity theft, we are designating September 1 as an official day to address the issue. We hope Child Identity Theft Awareness Day will gain traction as an annual reminder to parents to be vigilant about protecting their children’s information and take root in communities nationwide so we can all participate in the cause. This year, we invite consumers to engage with us; share personal stories in social media or share our content and use the hashtag #StopChildIDTheft. As part of this campaign, Experian is also sponsoring the Identity Theft Resource Center to extend their call center hours September 1 from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. EDT.  Consumers can call toll-free at 1-888-400-5530 and ask questions about child identity theft. Children are one of the most vulnerable populations, and we urge all parents to take action and use the free Child ID Scan. We are proud of the innovation we have achieved as we continue to leverage the power of data and analytics to protect consumers’ identities.  Parents can visit www.experian.com/childscan for more information.

We know millennials as the digital-savvy group that was raised on the web, likes to share things and prefers to communicate via text, but we wanted to know more. We recently looked at the borrowing behaviors of 60 million millennials to help millennials and businesses make the right decisions and get a clearer picture of the next big wave of homebuyers to hit the mortgage market. Millennials are the largest credit population in the U.S. at 61 million. They currently make up over 19% of the total U.S. population, but only 15% of millennials currently have a mortgage. In Q4 2017, 23% of mortgage-related dollars came from millennials and we’re seeing the most millennial mortgage originations in the south and west regions of the U.S. We studied more than 60 million millennials to compare the differences between millennials with a mortgage and those without. Our research showed mortgage lenders are drawn towards higher credit scores for millennials pursuing a mortgage. On average, 77% of millennials with a mortgage have a VantageScore greater than 661, with an average score of 716 for the millennial homeowner. Since people generally become more prime as they mature, it’s not surprising the millennial homeowner is slightly older. The average age of the millennial with a mortgage is 31, compared to 28 years old for millennials without a mortgage. We’re also seeing higher incomes are helping these older millennials secure a mortgage with an average income of $64,000 for millennials with a mortgage compared to $33,000 for millennials without a mortgage. With 85% of millennials without a mortgage today, it seems there is significant opportunity for mortgage lenders. But are these mortgage-less millennials ready to enter the mortgage market? On average, millennials without a mortgage have a VantageScore of 623 with eight trades on file. Only 39% of millennials without a mortgage have a prime or better score and many have higher delinquency rates. Many of these millennials will need to improve personal loan and bankcard usage habits to obtain lower rates when they’re ready to secure a mortgage. The good news for this group of millennials who may be interested in owning a home one day is small changes in financial behaviors such as building a history of on time payments and improved credit practices can help mortgage lenders shift from viewing them as high-risk to low-risk relatively quickly. Learn more about our credit outlook on millennials.