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You may have recently seen the announcement of Experian’s new Employer Services business. While we have a longstanding history of serving multiple industries, we recognize some may wonder what prompted Experian to enter this space. It may even seem like a means to another end. In an effort to dispel any preconceived notions, I’d like to highlight what led us to invest in this business, how we plan to address employers most pressing pain points as employees return to work and what the industry can expect from us. The truth is our clients asked us to enter the employer services market. Employers have been seeking alternatives to legacy services. They’ve been asking to have a company of Experian’s scale and capabilities fill in the gaps, invest in innovation, and provide high-touch customer support. Essentially, our goal is to deliver on their ask and be an indispensable partner to employers across the U.S. Here are three ways we are bringing this vision to life: 1. The industry’s best and most trusted providers are now part Experian. A critical piece of our strategy is to bring together the best the industry has to offer. We have a solid track record when it comes to acquiring companies who disrupt industries with innovative solutions to difficult problems. So, we scoured the market to identify companies that would allow us to provide unmatched human capital management expertise. Through our acquisitions of Emptech, Corporate Cost Control (CCC), and Tax Credit Co. (TCC), I am confident we have assembled the best-of-the-best. Individually, each company has a trusted reputation for providing unmatched service to some of the most recognizable brands. As we come together, we are leveraging our combined capabilities to deliver secure, scalable and transparent services to even more businesses. We can assist employers across industries with streamlining complex and time-consuming Human Resources activities and support their finance team’s tax credits processes, through services including: Electronic I-9 verification management Unemployment claims management Employment and income verification fulfillment Tax credits and incentives management, including Work Opportunity Tax Credits (WOTC) Ultimately, we are helping employers turn workforce management into a competitive advantage by improving candidate and employee experiences, safeguarding employee information and maximizing the benefits of various tax credits programs. By leveraging our experts, our clients can spend more time focusing on their people. 2. Our services are backed by high-touch customer service and powered by industry-leading innovation. While we are rightfully recognized as the largest credit bureau in the country, I’ve personally seen our business grow over the past 20 years into something much more than a credit bureau. We are a global technology company and market leader in business insights and analytics, focused on empowering consumers. We invest heavily in innovation across a wide spectrum of industries, and we are committed to investing long-term in technology and processes to improve outcomes for employers and their employees. In fact, Experian has been recognized as one of the most innovative companies in the world by Forbes for several years – for our work in all of the industries we serve. At the same time, our services are delivered with the highest standards of data privacy, accuracy, security and transparency. Our clients will always know how their data is being used and how it benefits their employees. Our business continues to evolve to deliver world-class services for our clients and consumers. We’re bringing this same innovative mindset and focus to meet the evolving needs of employers. 3. We’re “All In” on Employer Services. While we recognize the employer services space was ripe for innovation long before the pandemic, the ensuing stay-at-home orders, rising unemployment, reemployment and legislation changes created a perfect storm for employers, Human Resources and finance professionals. We’re facing an entirely new set of workforce challenges today. Whether you need unparalleled unemployment claims management, tax credit expertise, verification of income and employment reliability and transparency or work eligibility certification, we’re here to bring the best Experian has to offer to help and we’re going all in. Our promise is that we will listen to our customers to understand their unique needs and invest to provide the capabilities and high-touch service tailored to best serve them. We know employers need a partner they can trust, who is focused on their business and their employee’s experience and who will bring new ideas to the table on managing a complex workforce in this ever-changing environment. We have the teams in place with deep expertise to tackle the toughest challenges. We’re thrilled to be here, and we’re committed for the long-term. You can learn more about our Employer Services business by visiting www.experian.com/employer-services.
The use of digital payments continues to trend upwards. While the pandemic pushed consumers online quickly out of necessity, it has since become a preference due to the convenience factor. As businesses transform their operations to accommodate this rapidly growing volume of digital transactions, they must factor in the additional vulnerability caused for online fraud and identity theft. At Experian we are committed to helping our clients improve the customer experience, while at the same time protecting consumer identities and information. Experian was recently acknowledged in Juniper Research’s Online Payment Fraud Deep Dive Strategy & Competition 2021-2025 as an established leader in fraud detection and prevention. Juniper Research, one of the leading global analyst firms in the mobile and digital technology sector, scored Experian high for their marketing & branding strength, service range & features, financial performance in the sector, experience in the sector, operations & global reach, partnerships, creativity & innovation, and future business prospects. View infographic with key fraud trends According to Juniper Research, “Experian continues to invest into its fraud detection and prevention solution and uses its vast array of customer data to deliver an effective set of solutions across the entire consumer journey, from onboarding, through account management/account takeover and transaction risk mitigation.” The reports highlights Experian CrossCore platform noting, “Experian leverages a combination of proprietary solutions and partner capabilities and data – integrated into its CrossCore platform – where it leverages a robust machine learning approach that takes into account these dynamic sources of data.” All of Experian’s fraud detection and prevention services are available through Experian’s CrossCore partner ecosystem, which combines advanced analytics, rich data assets, identity insights and fraud prevention capabilities. Businesses using the Experian CrossCore partner ecosystem can connect any new or existing tools and systems in one place to quickly adjust strategies based on evolving threats and business needs, which helps to improve efficiency and reduce operational costs. Learn more about the CrossCore platform here.
At some point in all of our lives, we will know, or perhaps be ourselves, a person with a disability. It’s a natural part of the human experience, and it crosses lines of age, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, race, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status and religion. Globally, more than a billion people are part of this community. As society recognizes this commonality, it’s critical that companies do too. Experian does, and I’m happy to share that we have been named to the 2021 Disability Equality Index (DEI) as a Top Scorer. This honor from Disability:IN and the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) is considered the most robust disability inclusion assessment tool in business. At the most important level – for our people – it means we’re creating an environment where employees of varying abilities know there is place for them at Experian. To know they feel supported, and that we’re going to do all we can to ensure they continue to grow and develop their careers is the most meaningful part of this award. Part of our ongoing commitment includes having an individual who focuses on ensuring our systems, facilities and processes evolve and ultimately exceed regulatory requirements. Only a handful of companies across the nation has a role focused on disability inclusion; it’s exciting to be one of the trailblazers of this work. Being named a 2021 “Best Place to Work for Disability Inclusion” acknowledges this point in our journey and we will continue the work in all the countries in which we do business. This work matters.
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.