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Experian Consumer Services (ECS) was recognized as the winner of the "Best in Class Call Center" category at the industry-leading Call Center Excellence Awards at the recent Call Center Week's Awards Luncheon. The winners were announced by CustomerManagementIQ.com, a division of the International Quality & Productivity Center (IQPC), in front of 1,200 customer service executives at the 14th Annual Call Center Week, the largest, most comprehensive call center event in the world. The Experian Consumer Services call center is comprised of hundreds of employees who deliver a personalized experience assisting customers with credit- and identity theft-related issues. The center is built on the philosophy of E3: Exceptional Experiences Every time, which allows the team to retain internal and external customers, attract large partners and drive continuous improvement at every touch-point. E3 is woven through everything Experian Consumer Services does, including hiring, training, policies, procedures, corrective action, recognition and rewards. ECS understands that loyal and happy employees make loyal and happy customers. Its vision for all of its contact centers is to continue to be a great place to work and the employer of choice in its communities. The ECS approach to call center strategy is not necessarily proof that “Culture trumps Strategy,” rather it’s the understanding that culture and strategy are interrelated. Treat your people right, engage them, educate them and they will in turn perform their best for the company and do what is right for the customer. "We would like to thank the International Quality & Productivity Center for this award and recognition of our team's commitment to providing the best possible service to our customers," said Doug Sash, senior vice president of customer engagement for Experian Consumer Services. "Our customer care representatives use their knowledge and skills to create an exceptional and valuable experience for each member who calls."

Summer officially arrives on June 21. The busiest travel season of the year is on the horizon, and freecreditscore.com™ wants to help travelers mitigate post-vacation credit debt that can impact their credit long after a vacation ends. Here are five tips to avoid the pitfalls of a post-vacation credit sunburn:                                                   Save early. Each month, put away a small amount toward a vacation to avoid charging all travel expenses on a credit card. Charging all travel expenses to a credit card can take a long time to pay off, accruing interest and raising your credit utilization ratio (which isn't good for your credit score). Know credit card payment dates. Missing payments hurts your credit score. Traveling when a credit card payment is due? Set up a payment ahead of time using mobile banking. That way, even when lounging on the beach, you can rest assured that your credit card payment is made on time. Paying off credit card balances on time will help you establish a good payment history. Select a card with travel benefits. Planning to do a lot of traveling? Do some research and consider switching to a credit card that offers better travel-related rewards that can save money on airfare, hotels and car rentals. Don't run up a credit balance just for points, however; that could raise your credit utilization ratio. Go old school. Bring traveler's checks. Use traveler's checks to avoid relying on a credit card when vacationing abroad – and to protect against credit card theft. They're replaceable, convenient and won't impact your credit report if stolen. Check your credit before and after travel. Approach credit proactively. Check your credit report before and after a trip. If your identity has been compromised while you were traveling, the sooner suspicious or fraudulent activity is detected, the sooner you can take action to resolve the problem. Staying on top of your credit score as part of overall credit understanding is important. freecreditscore.com provides quick, easy and inexpensive access to personal credit scores, daily credit report monitoring, alerts to key changes and educational materials. It also features its innovative Score Planner, which is free to both members and nonmembers. To learn more about creditworthiness, visit freecreditscore.com.

Further evidence of economic recovery throughout the nation, an Experian trends analysis of new mortgages and bankcards from Q1 2013 showed a 16 percent year-over-year increase in mortgage origination volume and a 20 percent increase in bankcard limits. Other insights offered by Experian, include evidence of a strong rebound in the Midwest as well as unprecedented lows in bankcard delinquencies. Mortgage trends Mortgage origination volume saw a 16 percent increase over the same quarter a year ago. This upward trend in volumes over the past eight quarters points to a consistently improving housing market. Average home prices increased slightly from 2011. California continues to lead the way, with an average home price of $325,000. The South Central region increased to $169,000, surpassing the Midwest, which came in at $163,000. However, regional share of originated mortgage dollars showed strong activity in the Midwest as the new year began, with the Midwest rebounding by growing 27 percent year over year to $101 billion. For the first time in two years, the region surpassed California, which grew by 6 percent to $92 billion. Mortgage delinquency rates also continued to improve, reaching multiyear lows. There was a slight increase in late-stage 90- to 180-day delinquency that may be the result of continued stress in some specific housing markets. Bankcard trends Bankcard lending continues to slowly build every quarter, reaching a 20 percent year-over-year increase in total origination volume limits extended into the market during Q1 2013, which is up about $11 billion. According to the analysis Experian is seeing increased bankcard lending taking place in the prime and super-prime space. Significant year-over-year growth rates occurred within the near-prime segment, which saw a 42 percent increase, while the prime space grew 30 percent. Bankcard performance is also near record lows for each of the delinquency periods. Experian saw a slight seasonal uptick in charge-offs from 3.9 percent to 4.3 percent, but other than that, it was another very strong quarter for payment performance. The 30 to 59 days past due (DPD) went to 0.94 percent — six basis points lower than the previous quarter. Also, the 60 to 89 DPD went to 0.59 percent from 0.65 percent, and the 90 to 180 DPD was flat at 1.56 percent. In looking at the 30-plus-day delinquency rate by state for the quarter, Experian saw North Dakota lead the best-performing states, with the lowest rate of 1.94 percent. This was followed by Alaska at 2.23 percent, Wyoming at 2.34 percent, South Dakota at 2.41 percent and Iowa at 2.42 percent. The states that did not perform well for the quarter were Nevada at 3.81 percent, Arizona at 3.79 percent, Florida at 3.71 percent, Mississippi at 3.51 percent and Alabama at 3.40 percent. This information shows that the spread between the highest- and lowest-performing states for bankcards is continuing to close. The data for this insight and analysis was provided by Experian’s IntelliViewSM product. IntelliView data is sourced from the information that supports the Experian–Oliver Wyman Market Intelligence Reports and is easily accessed through an intuitive, online graphical user interface, which enables financial professionals to extract key findings from the data and integrate them into their business strategies. This unique data asset does this by delivering market intelligence on consumer credit behavior within specific lending categories and geographic regions.