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Experian, the global information services company, has agreed to join FDATA in support of its Open Banking initiatives around the world.  The commitment includes membership in the UK, US, and EMEA. It reflects Experian's strategy for rolling out Open Banking services across its global footprint that includes South America, South East Asia including Australia and South Africa.   Access to Open Banking will complement the organisation's network of credit bureaux, identity verification, and automated decision services that it already provides to consumers and businesses. Open Banking enables Experian to provide additional insight into consumers' and businesses' financial wellbeing.  Lisa Fretwell, Managing Director of Data Services at Experian, said: "Joining FDATA helps us to exchange knowledge, thought leadership, and drive innovation at a time when we are increasing our strategic commitment and investment plans for Open Banking. This will also include the UK's Open Finance initiative."  Experian helps consumers and businesses to engage with and understand their finance through combining its bureau data with insights generated from Open Banking.   Its consumer services business engages with more than 7 million consumers in the UK and more than 30 million in the U.S, empowering people to manage their money and access services at the best available rates. Meanwhile, Experian also works with a range of businesses – from financial services to utilities, and insurance to the public sector – so is well placed to drive successful Open Banking initiatives.  Working with FDATA and its members will further improve Experian's prospects of encouraging governments and regulators to commit to delivering the highest possible standards in Open Banking.   "Our membership will help us gain insights into policy issues that affect Open Banking and drive initiatives so consumers and businesses can gain greater access to fair and affordable credit," said Paul Haddon, Vice President of Governance & Strategic Initiatives. "Our launch of adding consumer-permissioned data to Experian credit reports called Experian Boost is a great example of how we are innovating and improving financial access for millions of people."  Launched in 2019, Experian Boost allows consumers to add positive payment history for telecommunications and utility bills to their Experian credit reports, which can possibly increase their credit scores instantly.   Gavin Littlejohn, FDATA Global Chair, added, "FDATA is delighted at Experian's decision to broaden the scope of their membership, a strategy that aligns a significant global footprint with FDATA's ongoing expansion and engagement in multiple markets. A first step in the journey towards Open Finance, Open Banking is undergoing international proliferation. FDATA shapes and influences this dialogue at the earliest possible stages for the good of the consumer and the health of the ecosystem, providing invaluable insights from across market landscapes with regard to delivery and holding markets accountable for ongoing performance. These efforts rest on the pillars of rich, living repositories of comprehensive research, white papers and opinion pieces and, a proven history of successful lobbying and intervention on behalf of the membership.  The addition of Experian's voice to the FDATA membership extends the collaborative capability of the combined membership, enhancing the synergy between the members themselves. The unprecedented economic crisis brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic has seen a surge of innovative responses from the Fintech community throughout the global ecosystem. FDATA is uniquely placed to facilitate these conversations between industry, governments, and regulators, encouraging the potential of products and services to yield the best possible outcomes for SMEs and populations as a whole."   

At Experian, we’re dedicated to innovation and the COVID-19 pandemic has been an impetus for further innovation. Our driving force of successful innovation is our employees. We foster a culture of continuous innovation, from the way we work to the solutions we create.   Global Hackathon  As part of our effort to mitigate the impact of the pandemic, we’re launching Experian’s first-ever Global Hackathon. Taking place between June 1 and 5, we’ve invited all our employees to get involved and connect, share knowledge and find new ways to help our clients and consumers on the road to recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.    Mitigating COVID-19 Crisis Through Our Innovations  In addition to the Global Hackathon, we’ve committed vast resources to develop innovative technologies and new sources of data and analytics to drive solutions that help people, businesses and society at large.   For example, to aid in the United States re-opening efforts, Experian has made available a free interactive U.S. map showing populations at-risk of being most susceptible to developing severe cases of COVID-19. The Experian COVID-19 Outlook and Response Evaluator (CORE) tool is intended to help guide healthcare organizations and government agencies as they plan for COVID-19 recovery in the months ahead. The map leverages de-identified data such as pre-existing conditions and social determinants of health to form a comprehensive picture that predicts possible pandemic impact on communities.   To help essential organizations during the pandemic, Experian also created At-Risk Audiences, which leverage our data assets to identify groups of individuals that are most likely to be impacted. These new privacy-compliant segments, offered free of charge, are designed to help these organizations find and communicate with at-risk populations, enabling them to deliver essential services as quickly as possible.  In the UK, we’re working side-by-side with the government. As part of this, we’re building models to help predict how this disease will spread in local populations and predict the effectiveness of various treatment therapies.      In Brazil, we’ve organized a coalition of universities, data companies and technology leaders to launch  Covid Radar with the purpose of working together to minimize the impacts generated by the COVID-19 pandemic and contribute to the recovery of Brazil’s economy. The Covid Radar integrates companies to the hospitals and communities that need donations of ventilators, personal protection equipment, or other supplies.  In addition to providing case monitoring and disease forecasting.   The COVID-19 crisis has forced innovation and change on a scale and pace we wouldn’t normally see. We remain relentlessly focused on helping vulnerable communities, strengthening the resilience of businesses, and playing an important role in helping consumers and the world economy get back to strength. As part of our global innovation program, we’re hosting a global hackathon to help our employees create new ways to help our clients and consumers on the road to recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.  As one of the world’s most innovative companies, we’re doing everything at Experian we can to provide our unique insights back to key stakeholders so they can prioritize help those who need it most urgently.     

Small businesses are the backbone of our nation’s economy, generating 44% of the nation’s overall revenue. When they take a hit, we all feel it. But as good neighbors – and frequent patrons – we can find a path toward keeping these small businesses on their feet and reopening their doors as soon as possible.    At Experian, our obligation is to fight for small businesses that have been impacted by COVID-19. Main Street America reported in April that “COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on small businesses’ revenue…Approximately 35.7 million Americans employed by small businesses are at risk of unemployment as result of the COVID-19 crisis.”   That is why we moved quickly to support the signing of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), providing relief to Americans through expanded unemployment coverage and by distributing grants and loans to small businesses.   Acknowledging the unprecedented financial difficulties many are facing, lenders have established relief options for customers unable to make scheduled payments. In an effort to safeguard consumers against potential delinquency and protect credit, the CARES Act calls for creditors to adjust reporting systems for those taking advantage of these relief options.   Simply put, your small business’s credit score shouldn’t be your biggest concern these days, and the CARES Act works to ensure that.    We know there’s more work to be done to help small businesses navigate these challenging times. We’ve outlined the following steps to keep your business’s credit on track during the pandemic, taking advantage of resources and services we recently launched:  Call Your Lender: If a customer or small business is unable to pay a bill, the most critical action they can take is to call their lender and inquire about available assistance programs. If consumers are able to get an accommodation, they can stop a missed payment from negatively impacting their credit.  Business Resources Website: Experian has launched a website to help businesses prepare to manage increased attacks, push toward digital banking and understand regulatory changes as businesses find their footing in this evolving financial services landscape.     Credit Report Access for All: Experian is offering all consumers access to a free credit report, FICO score and credit monitoring through our CreditWorks product, which also provides access to Experian Boost, a financial tool that has helped more than 2 million consumers increase their credit score to date. This is in addition to the free weekly credit score we are offering in coordination with our peers through annualcrediteport.com.   COVID-19 U.S. Business Risk Index: Experian has launched a new service to help lenders and government organizations understand how to make lending options available to the business segments that need it most. This, in turn, directly helps small businesses gain access to capital they need. The public tool includes a risk simulator broken down by state to keep business owners updated on how COVID-19 is affecting specific industries in a particular region.  As a nation, we have learned many lessons from the 2008 financial crisis. One vital lesson that sticks with us at Experian is that we’re better at tackling challenges as a collective financial industry, with transparency and a lending hand. At Experian, we’re committed to helping small businesses land back on their feet, and we’ll be there when the backbone of our economy needs additional support down the road.