Greater transparency in buy now, pay later activity is key to helping consumers build their credit histories and supporting responsible lending.
Experian North AmericaScott Brown, Group President, Financial Services
Affirm plans to report all pay-over-time loan products issued from April 1, 2025, and beyond, including Pay-in-4. The move will help drive greater transparency into the buy now, pay later market while helping consumers build their credit histories over time.
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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.
The advertising ecosystem has seen significant transformation over the past few years, with increased privacy regulation, changes in available signals, and the rise of channels like connected TV and retail media. These changes are impacting the way that consumers interact with brands and how brands understand and continue to deliver relevant messages to consumers with precision. Experian has been helping marketers navigate these changes, and as a result, our marketing data and identity solutions underpin much of today’s advertising industry. We’re committed to empowering marketers and agencies to understand and reach their target audiences, across all channels. Today, we are excited to announce our acquisition of Audigent—a leading data and activation platform in the advertising industry. With Audigent’s combination of first-party publisher data, inventory and deep supply-side distribution relationships, publishers, big and small, can empower marketers to better understand their customers, expand the reach of their target audiences and activate those audiences across the most impactful inventory. I am excited to bring together Audigent’s supply-side network as a natural extension to our existing demand-side capabilities. Audigent’s ability to combine inventory with targeted audiences using first-party, third-party and contextual signals provides the best of all worlds, allowing marketers to deliver campaigns centered on consumer choices, preferences, and behaviors. The addition of Audigent further strengthens our strategy to be the premier independent provider of marketing data and identity, ultimately creating more relevant experiences for consumers. To learn more about Experian and Audigent, visit https://www.experian.com/marketing/ and https://audigent.com/.
Today we released our annual Future of Fraud Forecast to help consumers and businesses stay one step ahead of emerging fraud trends and scams. Here’s what we expect in 2023: Fake texts from the boss: Given the prevalence of remote work, Experian predicts there’ll be a sharp rise in employer text fraud. This occurs when the “boss” texts the employee to buy gift cards using a bogus reason, and then asks the employee to email the gift card numbers and codes. Fraudsters then use the gift cards, leaving the employee and/or the company with the expense.Beware of fake job postings and mule schemes: Amid uncertain economic conditions, Experian predicts fraudsters will create fake remote job postings, specifically designed to lure consumers into applying for the job and providing private details like a social security number and date of birth on a fake employment application. The job never materializes, and the fraudsters use the information provided to commit identity theft. Experian also predicts that consumers could fall prey to mule recruiting schemes. This happens when people sign up for work from home jobs and unintentionally act as a re-shipper of stolen goods or help move money through their personal bank accounts on behalf of fraudsters.Frankenstein shoppers spell trouble for retailers: Synthetic identity fraud is the fastest growing financial crime in the United States, according to The Federal Reserve. This type of fraud involves a fraudster creating a synthetic or “Frankenstein” identity by combining real and false information and opening and building up lines of credit, eventually maxing out their credit limit and never paying it back. Experian predicts a new version of this fraud could result in major losses for retailers in the coming year. Fraudsters can create online shopper profiles using synthetic identities so that the fake shopper’s legitimacy is created to outsmart retailers’ fraud controls. As the shopper’s profile matures, criminals add stolen payment cards to the accounts. When the fraud eventually occurs, a single synthetic identity will have multiple credit lines to burn through across retailers.Social media shopping fraud: Experian predicts in-app social commerce fraud could result in millions of dollars in losses. These apps are designed to make shopping easy, intuitive and compelling for consumers to make purchases without leaving the app. This means legitimate brands are racing to make social commerce a part of their sales strategy. However, social commerce currently has very few identity verification and fraud detection controls in place, making the retailers that sell on these platforms easy targets for a surge in fraudulent purchases.Peer-to-peer payment problems: Consumers love the convenience of peer-to-peer payments and usage continues to grow. Fraudsters also love peer-to-peer payment methods because they’re an instantaneous and irreversible way to move money, enabling fraudsters to get cash with less work and more profit. Experian predicts fraudsters will gain even more unauthorized access to peer-to-peer payments by using multiple social engineering techniques. Consumers will be duped into buying fake items, sending the money to fraudsters and then never receiving their orders. They’ll also be tricked into giving their account credentials, enabling fraudsters to send cash to themselves. Experian is at the forefront of fraud prevention and identity verification. We offer a full suite of automated tools that harness data and analytics to prevent fraud and mitigate losses. Learn more about Experian’s fraud prevention tools here.
When people think about the automotive industry, data probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. But make no mistake: data is one of the underlying currents keeping the automotive industry running. Data answers all sorts of questions for OEMs, lenders, dealers, and consumers. And recently, with electric vehicles (EVs) growing in popularity, a new set of questions around battery health has emerged for dealers and consumers alike. Understanding battery health is particularly crucial for dealers when assessing trade-ins, and for dealers or consumers purchasing a used EV. Oftentimes, battery health is a more informative metric than those traditionally looked to assess a vehicle, such as milage, or vehicle age. This information hasn’t been readily available for dealers or consumers, until now. To that end, Experian announced a strategic alliance with Recurrent, the battery range and analytics company, to offer Recurrent’s Battery Report alongside Experian’s AutoCheck® vehicle history report (VHR). The Recurrent Battery Report offers additional data and attributes on an EV’s battery health that no other VHR presently offers, including current and future range estimates, climate impact, remaining battery warranty, and more. Offering the Recurrent Battery Report with an AutoCheck vehicle report will bring a level of assurance dealers have been previously unable to attain when buying or selling used EVs, increasing transparency and easing range anxiety for consumers. Through this alliance, we’re doubling down on our commitment to helping dealers buy and sell used vehicles with confidence, and this commitment extends to used EVs, as well. The data shows that EVs have reached a tipping point, comprising more than 5% of new vehicle registrations in 2022, and growing. Dealers are going to see them come back to the showroom as trade-ins more frequently, and being able to quickly assess them, as well as sell them with transparency will be key to longevity in the market. Experian is on the forefront and has been leading the charge in EV data, leveraging vehicle registration data to help OEMs, lenders and dealers understand where EV market share is growing the fastest, model popularity, and more. Additionally, we have EV audiences, built with our extensive marketing resources, that help dealers find the most interested potential EV buyers. But this is just the beginning. As EVs continue to penetrate the market, Experian is committed to innovating and constantly pursuing new data sources to anticipate market needs and help inform strategic decision-making.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke often about “the beloved community.” To be of service to all and unite us in the act of giving back. This encapsulates what Experian stands for: to create a better tomorrow for all. We’re proud that today, across Experian North America, our teammates will be participating in volunteer opportunities in-person and virtually to address needs in their communities; everything from career development, recording audio books for children, and creating Martin Luther King, Jr. fact cards in braille. One project that we’re particularly looking forward to is helping to design free budget templates for consumers in underserved communities. Financial literacy and equitable access to financial tools and resources lead to economic empowerment. We’ve been able to bring our message to live events like the National Urban League, and support young athletes and their families at the Allen Iverson Roundball Classic as its exclusive financial literacy partner. To further our support of Dr. King’s mission, Experian has also made a donation to the King Center for Non-violent Social Change. We’re proud Experian supports today’s National Day of Service and hope you’re able to make an impact in your communities on this day, and every day.
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