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For the ninth year, the Orange County Register has named Experian North America as a Top Workplace, securing the #1 ranking for the second consecutive year. The award, which is based on employee feedback in a survey of hundreds of leading companies in Orange County, recognizes our company’s culture of inclusion, and our commitment to employees and communities. Orange County is the home of our North America operations, and we are especially honored to be recognized again for our inclusive work environment and achieving higher performance while giving back. This honor demonstrates the talent and compassion of all the people who work at Experian. Thank You All our decisions are driven by our desire to ensure our employees feel valued and protected. As part of this, we issued a ‘Thank You’ Share Award to all employees at the beginning of this year to recognize perseverance through the pandemic, giving thousands of employees an equity stake in the company. Coming Together Our Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) continue to grow and support employees in different ways, which include activities that bring employees together internally to serve their communities externally. For example, our Asian American ERG worked closely with Pan-Asian leadership organization Ascend to support the Asian American community and employees, considering increasing discrimination and xenophobia during the pandemic. Together they kicked off Feed Your Hospital, which facilitated the delivery of meals to frontline COVID-19 healthcare workers by supporting local Asian restaurants. Meals were purchased at the restaurants and delivered to participating hospitals. The campaign raised funds for hospitals in Orange County. Social Good This year, we also awarded two OC-based organizations with major grants – the OC Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and TGR Foundation (a Tiger Woods Charity). For the OC Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, we funded and facilitated credit education initiatives for the Youth Chamber Program – funds went towards scholarship awards and event costs. We also added credit education to the ‘Pre-Venture Business Program’ curriculum – with funds going into marketing, training, one-on-one consulting, and event costs offered in both Spanish and English. For the TGR Foundation grant, we are working on ongoing projects with the foundation to support credit education, small business entrepreneurship, homeownership, and financial inclusion efforts. In total, employees volunteered more than 900 hours to Orange County-based nonprofits and Experian matched funds to those organizations that employees volunteered with and donated to. Our employees continue to help people who are facing unprecedented and unforeseen challenges. Different groups and employees of all levels are working together to help our clients, customers and communities persevere. We are honored that the Orange County Register continues to recognize our tireless efforts to make a difference in the communities in which we live and work.
Over the past year at Experian, we’ve continued to facilitate innovation in the fintech space – leveraging our expertise and history of helping financial institutions and individuals address a wide range of challenges. We’re thrilled to be recognized for the impact of this important work, being named a global fintech leader in the Center for Financial Professionals (CeFPro) Fintech Leaders 2022 report. One of the most comprehensive international research and ranking programs on the status of fintech in financial services, CeFPro ranks Experian among the report’s top companies within the Fraud Prevention and Credit Risk categories, and in the top 15 Overall Ecosystem Rankings. This recognition showcases the value of fraud and identity management services amid the rise of digital channels, and critical importance of continuing to develop strategies to mitigate risk. At Experian we have a deep history in pioneering tools and services that prioritize improving financial health for all. Through the ongoing development of our core products and continued innovations, we believe improving financial health is how we can make a difference for institutions and individuals alike. Our core products harness the expertise of our people and are examples to others in the industry who look to advance innovation in the fintech space and beyond. We continue to invest in new technology and infrastructure to deliver fresh insights and transform the way businesses and consumers operate. For more than 125 years, we’ve helped consumers and clients prosper. Recognition by the CeFPro report is particularly meaningful to us. The study garners their rankings from the very individuals and institutions that engage with Experian – drawing on market analysis and original research that is also backed by an advisory board composed of 60 international industry professionals. We’re honored and inspired – and look forward to continuing to push the envelope in the fintech space and beyond.
The United Nations identifies removing poverty as one of its 17 Sustainable Development Goals. There’s a reason it’s number one on their list: Access to affordable financial services opens the door to opportunities for people to transform their lives – from homes and healthcare to education and entrepreneurship.. At Experian, our focus is on increasing access to financial services, improving financial literacy and building consumer confidence; we help people take control of their financial health. We are using the power of data innovation to transform lives and help businesses grow, improving financial health for people around the world. We created a dedicated Social Innovation Programme to fund, build and recognize products that will have a positive impact on the financial health of consumers. Between 2013 and April 2021 we have invested over US$8m across 29 product ideas. Eighteen of those products have launched, reaching 61 million people, many of whom are from financially vulnerable backgrounds. In June, we opened applications for our latest round of annual Social Innovation funding and asked teams to come up with new innovative products that positively impact the financial health of our consumers and use data for good. Of these, seven projects were shortlisted and presented to our Social Innovation Committee, which I am privileged enough to chair. It was a tough decision, but we chose three truly diverse projects to receive this year’s Social Innovation funding and we are really excited about what they could achieve. These projects will give millions of people in India access to a more positive loan decision, allow citizens in the UK to manage their vulnerability data across multiple organisations, and help farmers in Brazil to access the credit they need to keep their businesses going. Between them, these three projects alone have the potential to reach over 85 million people in the next five years, which is a truly exciting prospect. We are proud to celebrate our culture of purpose-led innovation. Our social innovation products have reached 61 million people since 2013 and we aim to reach 100 million by 2025. Read more about how we are helping to create a better tomorrow.
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.
We believe that financial literacy leads to empowerment. That is why Experian supports initiatives and partners with community organizations to deliver financial education. We also develop products and services that give more control to consumers over their credit profile and financial health. As part of advancing our mission of Financial Power to All®, we are proud to announce we are helping more than 5,000 Hispanic individuals nationwide by relieving $10 million dollars of consumer debt. To provide families with this boost, we joined forces with ForgiveCo, a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC), to administer the acquisition and cancellation of qualifying consumer debt for the selected recipients. Beneficiaries will also receive a one-year premium Experian membership for free that offers access to their Experian credit report in English and Spanish[i], FICO® Score[ii], bilingual educational content, and other financial resources. We hope this effort helps raise awareness of the importance of financial literacy for everyone, and that Experian has resources to help individuals reach their financial dreams. To amplify the message, we collaborated with multi-platinum, award-winning singer and songwriter Prince Royce and you can see his video here. In fact, we have been making a concerted effort the last several years to evolve our educational resources and products to better support all underserved communities. Some of our other activities include the creation of the B.A.L.L. for Life initiative that connects African American and Hispanic youth with financial education, supporting scholarships for Asian Americans through the Ascend organization, providing custom resources for Out & Equal and Born This Way Foundation for the LGBTQ+ community, supporting the NextGen Innovation Lab for Disability:IN, and sponsoring credit counseling for the military community with Operation HOPE. For resources in Spanish, Experian offers a credit e-book and consumers can access a full suite of articles at the Ask Experian blog here. [i] Only Experian credit reports are available in Spanish. All other services associated with an Experian membership are available in English only. English fluency is required for full access to Experian’s products. [ii] Credit score calculated based on FICO® Score 8 model. Your lender or insurer may use a different FICO® Score than FICO® Score 8, or another type of credit score altogether. Learn more.
Amid some of the financial challenges that underserved communities experience, members across the financial services community remain committed to championing initiatives and programs that drive greater financial inclusion. In fact, collaboration has led to the inclusion of non-debt related payment information on consumers’ credit profiles, as well as digital services that make it easier to manage money. These efforts have helped to broaden access to fair and affordable financial resources for more individuals. While significant progress has been made, there is still more work to do. However, some of the misconceptions and myths about the financial services community are hindering further advancement. Debunking these myths will accelerate progress by building trust between the financial services community and consumers. Person withdrawing money from ATM contactless Myth #1: “Financial institutions have no interest in underserved consumers or credit invisibles.” The truth is, banks and credit unions want to say “yes” to more prospective borrowers, including individuals and families from underserved communities. Beyond being the right thing to do, it’s an opportunity to potentially build lifelong relationships with a relatively untapped market. A show of good faith to communities who have largely been ignored by the financial system could lead to customer loyalty that may extend to their family and friends. That’s why participants across the financial ecosystem have been proponents of including expanded data sources—such as on-time telecom, utility and video streaming service payments—on to consumer credit reports, as well as exploring other Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)-regulated data sources, including payment data on short-term small dollar loans and expanded public records data. Making this data more accessible to lenders provides a more comprehensive view of a consumer’s ability and willingness to repay outstanding debt—an actionable solution to extending credit to consumers without lenders taking on additional risk. Myth #2: “There is a lack of trustworthy financial education resources.” The financial services community and affiliated organizations recognize that empowering people with financial knowledge and skillset are critical to consumers’ financial success. In fact, banks and credit unions are partnering with nonprofits and non-governmental organizations to better understand the unique challenges and opportunities within specific communities and provide relevant tools and resources. For example, Experian’s B.A.L.L. for Life (Be A Legacy Leader) program, launched in partnership with the National Urban League, serves as a catalyst for engaging with Black communities and low-income youth through live events and digital financial education. Subject matter experts, professional athletes, celebrities, and other influencers share their experiences and expertise, covering topics such as banking, credit, financial management and investing. In addition, to help people improve their financial management, Experian partners with the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC). The NFCC connects consumers with certified financial counselors to help them address various pain points, including debt management, homeownership, student loans or small business cash flow issues. Myth #3: “Underserved communities have few opportunities to build credit and enter the mainstream financial system.” People from underserved communities, as well as younger consumers and recent immigrants are often excluded from the mainstream financial system because they lack an extensive credit history. Historically, it’s created a vicious cycle; in order to get credit, you have to have credit. Fortunately, there has been a sea change in innovative solutions to address the specific needs of these populations. These include new credit scoring models and microfinancing which provide financial services to individuals who may have been excluded from traditional banking systems. In addition, by incorporating expanded data sources, such as telecom, utility and residential rental payments onto credit reports, lenders have more visibility into consumers who may have been excluded by traditional credit scoring methods.These programs help individuals and families from underserved communities establish and build a credit history that could enable loans, or the ability to rent an apartment or open their dream business. An example is Experian Boost®, a free feature that allows Experian members to contribute their history of making utility, cellphone, insurance, residential rent and video streaming service payments directly into their Experian credit profile. By incorporating nontraditional credit data like paying utility bills on time, online banking transactions, rental payments and verified income data, more people can establish a credit profile that can potentially qualify them for a loan. More Inclusion, Fewer Myths It’s encouraging that community organizations and banks are beginning to see the economic and social benefits of aligning on financial literacy and inclusion. As more initiatives come online, underserved populations will be able to establish a better financial foundation. Then, we can declare the myths to be history.