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Tens of millions of workers in the U.S. found themselves unemployed earlier this year, as the COVID-19 pandemic caused job loss rates not seen since the Great Depression. While average Americans were reaching out to their state agencies seeking assistance, fraudsters saw unprecedented opportunity. It may be difficult to imagine why someone would take advantage of a system striving to help those in need, but cybercriminals often thrive in times of crisis. At Experian, we took notice as we began to hear from states about a significant uptick in fraudsters wrongfully claiming benefits.   When it comes to innovation, we strive to be agile and nimble so we can adapt to the changing needs of consumers and businesses. As a result of COVID-19, one of those emerging needs is to join the fight against unemployment insurance fraud.   That’s why Experian has partnered with the Unemployment Insurance (UI) Integrity Center to help mitigate unemployment insurance fraud. Together, we will provide state agencies with a centralized platform to verify identities that are applying for unemployment insurance. The new partnership will combine Experian’s Precise ID® solution, which integrates identity analytics with advanced fraud risk models to distinguish various types of fraud, with the UI Center’s Identity Verification (IDV) capability. In short, when state agencies submit claims, the IDV solution will return ID theft scoring and associated cause codes, enabling them to assess whether a claim may be fraudulent.  This can be easily implemented by any state UI agency through the Center’s Integrity Data Hub. While mitigating fraud is top of mind, security is a top priority as well. The platform was designed and built using the latest National Institute of Standards and Technology IT security standards to ensure the security of sensitive data.  With the number of unemployment claims remaining high, it’s clear that state agencies must maximize their time and resources. Fortunately, the solution powered by Experian’s Precise ID will be available to state agencies at no cost through UI Integrity Center, operated by the National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA) in partnership with and funded by the U.S. Department of Labor.   This is one of many steps we’re taking at Experian to combat fraud, and we will continue to innovate and adapt on the road to recovery ahead of us. As we move forward together, Experian is committed to leveraging innovation and technology to protect consumers and help businesses meet the challenges of 2020 and beyond.        

We know small businesses are critical to the vibrancy of our economy and communities. Watching how hard the COVID-19 pandemic has affected them and their founders has been troubling. Here at Experian, we created new tools to help small businesses navigate this uncertain time. But we want to do more, and help businesses survive and thrive even in “normal” times.  That’s why I’m especially excited about our newest partnership with Black Girl Ventures (BGV).  This is part of our United for Financial Health program, which aims to empower vulnerable consumers to improve their financial health and protect them from fraud and identity theft. Through this partnership,we will provide resources, tools and services to Black and Brown women entrepreneurs to enable them and their small businesses to grow and prosper. We know that long-standing inequities have created barriers for women, especially women of color. Our partnership will provide financial resources to help scale its BGV Style Pitch Competition and Amplify BGV Programs and we are a proud sponsor of BGV’s new weekly podcast, “From Hustling to Handling, How to Stay in Business.” Together, we will curate entrepreneurial education content to assist a broader audience with knowledge and best practices related to financial literacy and wealth management.  The negative financial impact on these women and their businesses has had a reverberating effect across communities of color. Our United for Financial Health program is one of the many ways we are staying true to our mission to support all consumers and clients through their financial health journey, in normal and extraordinary times. This partnership with BGV will fuel the economic recovery by reaching millions of Black and Brown women entrepreneurs and, in turn, supporting the communities they serve. 

As businesses across the globe have started to see their operations stabilize, they will be tested once again as the world faces another resurgence of the Covid-19 but this time consumer expectations will be much higher. According to the latest Experian’s Global Insights Report, 60% of consumers have higher expectations of their digital experience than before Covid-19. The study which surveyed 3,000 consumers and 900 businesses in 10 countries, including: Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, India, Japan, Singapore, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States, found that while many consumers may have stayed loyal to businesses they frequented before COVID-19 initially, that may no longer be the case.     High expectations for security and convenience compounded by the increased demand for online payments, banking and shopping are pushing businesses to re-imagine the customer journey and the investments needed to drive future growth. In fact, the study found that one in three consumers are only willing to wait 30 seconds or less before abandoning an online transaction, specifically when accessing their financial accounts. This means that businesses have an increasingly short time frame to prove the experience will be safe and convenient.  Businesses have no choice but to invest in their digital presence and experience. We believe the cost of doing nothing will be greater than what it will cost to invest in the customer journey. While half of the businesses we surveyed have either mostly or completely resumed operations since Covid-19 began, only 24% are deliberately making changes to their digital customer journey. This is not enough.    The integration of data, analytics and technology is the key to enable businesses to quickly adapt decisioning strategies to minimize risk, preserve valuable relationship and remain fair and compliant. In order to strengthen digital transformation, Experian recommends that retail banks, payment providers and retailers consider the following:  Understanding the customer    Businesses need to understand their customers more than ever before. They need to understand their behaviors, preferences, and financial situation. Each transaction creates hundreds of different touchpoints that financial institutions and retailers need to accommodate across all devices. The tricky part is using the right technology to put all the datapoints together and to link them into one single-view of the customer.     Use of AI to improve and automate customer decisions  Being able to make the right decision is more important than ever. Today’s economic conditions are unprecedented, and unfortunately we don’t have historic data to count on. Therefore, we need to use data and technology better than before. In the area of artificial intelligence, businesses are strengthening the security of mobile and digital channels, new credit risk analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) models and increasing digital customer acquisition and engagement.   Strengthening security of mobile and digital channels  Businesses need to provide not only a convenient experience but also a secure one. In order to improve security, businesses need to use a multi-level approach where they can easily access and layer fraud solutions to catch more fraud and reduce friction for genuine consumers.   Discover more insights from our longitudinal study of the impact of Covid-19 on businesses and consumers.