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Five years ago, I began volunteering as an Experian Ambassador, teaching personal finance to local high school students. It is so rewarding to share my credit knowledge with young people, and to see their eyes light up when they understand how credit works. I ended up starting my career at Experian 26 years ago because my passion for credit runs in my blood. I was raised in a household where reputation was everything to my father. The idea of having a good name, a good reputation and a good credit score was drilled into me. So, when Experian created the Ambassador Program to promote financial literacy in local communities through employee volunteers, I jumped at the chance to participate. At the time, I was an Account Executive and knew that for most consumers, credit is an obscure subject. I thought this program would be a great opportunity to apply my expertise and educate people in my community about the importance of taking their financial reputation seriously. As an Ambassador, I gave my first presentation on financial literacy to high school students, and the experience was so rewarding that I immediately contacted my son’s high school to see if I could teach the same class to his classmates. The program has grown to where I now go to the school twice a year, teaching the entire student body of 4,000 students about how they can responsibly build their credit. For each class, I share personal stories and anecdotal examples that are relatable to them. For example, to explain how credit scores affect consumers, I ask every student to think of number between 350 and 800. I then pick three volunteers to come to the stage – one who chose a number in the low range, one from the mid-range and third from the higher range. I then ask those three kids to agree on the dream car they would buy. Once they agree on the make and model, we talk about how the price of the car is the same for everyone, but that their credit score determines the loan financing. Someone with a higher credit score will pay much less over the life of a car loan than someone with a lower score. That’s the moment my students’ eyes light up, because they finally understand how credit works. Over the years, I’ve had kids come up to me in grocery stores and thank me for teaching them about credit. One young man in particular came up to me at a local farmer’s market, beaming. “I remember when you taught me about credit scores,” he said. “Because of you, I was able to save money, get a secured card, build my credit and buy my first car.” His pride was infectious. Credit has an impact in everyone’s life at some point. By speaking to students at a young age, in terms and language they understand, I’ve helped countless students successfully and safely build credit to help them reach their first financial milestones. I am proud of the opportunity I have been given at Experian to help young people to take control of their financial futures.

I’m constantly amazed at how Experian gets to uncover and bring to life the data that really matters. By partnering with the National Literacy Trust to analyze different data sets, we uncovered a widespread literacy crisis in England. A while back, Experian was approached by the National Literacy Trust in England, asking us to collect information to help them better understand how far-reaching literacy problems are in England. Using data from Experian, the National Literacy Trust and the 2011 census, our data analytics team compared data sets against social factors that are closely associated with low literacy levels, such as education, income and unemployment rates.  Through this in-depth analysis, we were able to create a literacy vulnerability score for every single electoral ward and parliamentary constituency in England. We found that 86 percent of all English constituencies have entrenched problems with literacy. What was most surprising was how far-reaching the problem was across the country. I guess I had assumed, as most would, that in the more affluent areas where there are good levels of education, higher incomes and higher employment rates, children would have a good relationship with books. We found, however, that it doesn’t matter what community you live in, or how affluent or deprived the area is – literacy issues can affect all of us. While the initial reaction by the public has been one of shock, I really think this study was something England needed to help the next generation avoid the same problems. Working alongside the National Literacy Trust, we’re leveraging this data to raise awareness within the government. Early in February 2017, we supported an event for Members of Parliament (MPs) to highlight how the issue may affect their constituencies, using a ranking table that shows which areas are the most affected. You could say this literacy issue is a bit of a crisis, and MPs would now agree. In my role at Experian, I frequently look at what we call “societal impact stories” that highlight how Experian is engaged in local communities. What I love about my job is getting to see how all the powerful information we have on hand is being used to lay the foundations for others to transform lives and local communities for the better.  While there is still much work to be done to solve the literacy issue in England, I’m constantly amazed at how we at Experian get to uncover and bring to life the data that really matters.  

Bernard Marr, who LinkedIn recently ranked as one of the top 10 business influencers in the world (just behind Bill Gates and Richard Branson), recently published a story on Forbes about how Experian is using machine learning to cut mortgage application times to just a few days. In this article, Experian’s Global CIO, Barry Libenson, discusses how Experian is well-positioned to pioneer technology in this field, due to the fact that banks, insurers and public sector bodies all routinely come to it for its data. “Now the large financial institutions don’t want you to dictate to them how they consume information, they want to tell you how they want to consume it, and you have to deliver it to them in that way. So they can say ‘hey, Experian, we have a simple question we want to ask and we expect a simple response, and we want it in real-time, and we want to be able to get it 24 hours a day from anywhere in the world.’” Check out the full article: How Experian Is Using Big Data and Machine Learning to Cut Mortgage Applicatoin Times To a Few Days

Having a diverse workforce is vital to help us innovate and deliver on the needs of our increasingly diverse clients and consumers. Over the years, we’ve made some great progress, but there’s so much more we can do and it’s going to take the collective effort of all of us to continue to move the needle. That’s why we’re gearing up to celebrate International Women’s Day (IWD). It’s a day celebrated in many countries around the world to recognize the achievements of women and drive equality among men and women. At Experian, IWD activities are extending throughout the month of March. Have a look at what’s going on around the world as Experian celebrates this important day: Asia Pacific The Asia Pacific region is hosting a range of activities across our offices in March, which will include round-table and speaker events as well as an opportunity to network and pledge their support for IWD. EMEA and UK&I EMEA and UK&I are joining together for IWD to support and celebrate diversity and inclusion. The week started with a video of employees from both regions reflecting on what diverse teams bring to our business. Employees will also be invited to a variety of events to engage and network with inspirational women and hear stories from our leaders on what diversity means to them personally. Latin America Throughout the month of March, Latin America has been running a campaign to share stories of achievements in their region and raise awareness about breast cancer prevention and other diseases more common in women. On IWD, there will be a panel of women leaders who will address issues such as the social inclusion of women in the region, women’s participation in the labor market, Experian’s commitment to female leadership and the importance of a work/life In Brazil, IWD is kicking off with a presentation by members of the United Nations to present their 50-50 Gender Equality program (which aims to eliminate gender inequalities by 2030) and how they are working with companies around the world to achieve this vision. Employees will have an opportunity to hear from leaders in our business about diversity and inclusion plans for the region, and listen to a panel of external speakers discuss diversity challenges and career development. North America Our employees in North America will be kicking off the week with celebrations across their ITS’ 13 offices in the region. Each office will have daily activities throughout the week, and all employees – including virtual and those based in smaller offices – will be invited to attend webinars focused on Diversity and Inclusion topics. On IWD, there will be panel discussions with senior leaders who will speak on various career development topics. To close out the week, there will be a special Book Club discussion on March 9. We will continue to update this blog post all week with pictures and other ways we’re celebrating IWD. Bookmark this page and come back.

I work at SEGA, a global games company. I first met Nakamura-san, my contact at Experian, about eight or nine years ago. I remember telling him at the time that I was a little sceptical of credit report and analytic companies – I thought they were either too expensive or their reports weren’t detailed enough. However, a year later I needed help from a company like Experian, and I thought I’d put them to the test.   My team and I were starting to communicate with overseas markets, to work with companies around the world. So, I phoned Nakamura-san. It was a business negotiation, so I had my poker face on – I played the usual mind games you have to, insinuating that if Experian did this job well then our company might be able to offer them even more business in the future.   Safe to say, they passed the test. We’ve been building a really positive relationship with Experian for the last eight years.   We’re working with companies in Hong Kong, Taiwan and London at the moment. To work with them, we need information – for instance, we need to know if they’re actually located where they say they are. Even if a company gives us an address, it’s always possible that it operates from a different country – we’ve all heard about companies and their tax havens. When we have these questions, Nakamura-san and his team at Experian collect and analyse data on these companies, and give us very thorough information – breaking it all down and explaining everything to us really clearly.   It’s really difficult to get the rich, detailed analysis of data you need, but Experian provides us much better data than any of our previous credit research companies managed to. They consult with us, and help us use this data to get our business to a better place. I’m very grateful for it – they’ve added great value to our business. Mr. Shinji Mutazono, Team Manager, SEGA Group Companies Finance Department, SEGA Holdings CO., Ltd. 

In Malaysia, nearly 280,000 people live without electricity. By volunteering with the Liter of Light program, we’re bringing solar panel lights to remote villages, transforming the quality of life and brightening the darker hours for families. In Malaysia, more than 1 percent of the population lives without electricity – one of life’s basic necessities – which equates to nearly 280,000 people living in darkness after the sun goes down. Some people have never had electricity in their life, making simple tasks like cooking or reading nearly impossible after dark. I wanted to change that. My day job is to support and enable individuals within Experian to pursue various career opportunities, but what I’m most passionate about is the way Experian helps me invest in my local community through the Heart of Experian Corporate Social Responsibility program. This year, my team and I had the chance to collaborate with Liter of Light (LOL) – a global, grassroots movement committed to providing affordable, sustainable solar light to people with limited or no access to electricity. In February, we joined one of their projects to install 60 solar street lights in the village of Orang Asli, an indigenous community in the Cameron Highlands.   Over the span of two days in February, a group of 30 Experian volunteers built and installed the solar panel lights. On the first day, the LOL team taught us how to build the panels, teaching us the skills needed to cut wire, assemble PVC pipes and drill holes. The second day, we rode in Jeeps through muddy roads and a three-foot deep river to reach the village. We spent hours unloading the lights and assembling the panel boxes, plotting the village maps and identifying the right spots to install the solar panel lights. I was happy to see some of the local villagers’ curiosity and participation throughout the day. Some helped us assemble the lights while others prepared the right spots for installation by building bamboo stands. The weather was kind to us, so by 5 p.m., nearly all the lights were installed – just before dark! After completing all the hard work, our team recorded a group video using a drone that all of the Orang Asli children chased after. Thanks to our service project providing light to a village in darkness, 150 villagers in Orang Asli will now have more productive, higher-quality lives during the dark hours of the day. I’m so glad I got to play a role in that.