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For the past several years, Experian has been on a journey to help drive financial inclusion for millions of people around the world. This has required significant focus on how we operate, who we partner with, and the products and solutions we offer. Four years ago, when we decided to partner with and invest in Finicity, a leading financial data aggregator based in Salt Lake City, we did so on our strong belief in consumer-permissioned data and our shared vision with their leadership team. At the time, we knew Finicity’s commitment to empower consumers and drive the digital revolution fit perfectly with our priorities. Over the years, this has proven to be true time and time again as we’ve leveraged Finicity’s technology capabilities to create enormous opportunity for our clients and improve financial access for consumers. One example is our partnership on Experian Boost. With the support of Finicity’s infrastructure, more than 4.9 million consumers have connected to Experian Boost to contribute their on-time payments for their telecommunications, utility, streaming service and cell phones directly to their Experian credit reports. Through Experian Boost, and access to real-time consumer-permissioned data, we are increasing financial inclusion by helping lenders identify more consumers who can pay responsibly. In an equally powerful testament to the power of consumer-permissioned data, our partnership with Finicity is helping streamline the homebuying experience for consumers and lenders. As a distribution partner of Finicity’s Verification Solutions, we are delivering Verification of Assets (VOA), Verification of Income (VOI) and Verification of Income and Employment (VOIE) to the mortgage market. This innovative digitization of data and analytics is streamlining experiences for borrowers and is a critically important step in modernizing the mortgage process. Additionally, we have clients successfully utilizing Finicity’s Verification Solutions in automotive underwriting, personal lending, tenant screening and other sectors. Earlier this week, Mastercard closed its acquisition of Finicity. This move, along with the overall trajectory of market demand, is testament to the fact that we clearly invested in the right capability, the right team and the right vision at the right time. But our journey together isn’t over, it has just been reinforced and will continue with Finicity even under new ownership. Our commitment to working with Finicity does not change with this news, it is only enhanced. Our drive to accelerate digital lending, empower consumers and drive more consumer-permissioned data solutions is higher than ever. We will continue to partner with Finicity, now part of the Mastercard family, as a central component of our strategy. We look forward to a continued strong relationship with this new, combined entity as we continue to bring innovative solutions for consumers and businesses to the table.

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.