Innovation

To quote The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, ‘water, water everywhere, / nor any drop to drink.’ I think the same can be true of data. While organizations have more data than ever before, very few are able to capitalize on this resource and actually leverage it for insight. There is no question on the value of data. It is viewed as a key competitive advantage, and in some instances, a strategic financial asset. However, translating data into meaningful insight is a completely different task to storing and managing it from a regulatory perspective. We see many companies investing in all sorts of data initiatives, like analytics, machine learning automation, data governance, customer insight, etc. Yet, most companies still report they are not sufficiently data driven. Each year we conduct a global study of data usage and data management practices. This year, we surveyed over 1,000 practitioners on how they want to leverage data. The research dug into some of the obstacles they face and why so few are able to leverage data for insight. We found three key areas emerge. First, there is a large degree of distrust in information. The average professional looking at data does not understand how that data got there, when it is useful, and what state it is in. While data can lead to increased agility and better decision making, a significant level of distrust often causes leaders to fall back on making decisions by gut instinct rather than by informed data insight. In fact, we have consistently seen over the past several years that people believe almost a third of their data is inaccurate. Second, we are seeing a rising level of data debt. Data debt is a lot like technical debt. You have a set of data assets that aren’t necessarily fit for purpose or have a high degree of inaccuracy. Unless you take the time to fix that information and govern it properly, you are always going to have a suboptimal data operation. In turn, poor quality means many companies are not fully seeing the ROI or expected benefit from some of the investments they are making. Finally, there is a data skills shortage. This doesn’t just mean data professionals, like data analysts, chief data officers (CDOs), and data scientists. There is also a general lack of understanding around data within the broader business. We see a growing number of companies talking about enabling wider usage of data across the business and wanting to do more with data insight, but very few people across organizations are truly data literate. Our survey results indicated a tide changing where now most companies report that data literacy needs to be a core competency of employees over the next five years. To generate the level of insight needed to fully leverage data as a valuable asset, organizations have to start to tackle issues around inaccuracy, trust, and certainly data skills. Without fixing these components, organizations will continue to be surrounded by all of this useful data that doesn’t actually provide them with what they need. To learn more about these challenges and our new study, please download the report at https://www.edq.com/resources/data-management-whitepapers/2020-Global-data-management-research/.

Explore Experian’s insights for customer identity and its interrelationship with security, convenience, and personalization, from consumers and businesses Businesses often talk about creating the ultimate digital experience for customers but far less about the interrelationship between security, convenience, and personalization. This results in siloed security measures at major decision points across the customer journey. And, it’s a disconnect that’s perpetuated through equally siloed CRM systems that strive to identify customer preferences but fail to do so in a consistent and appealing way. The impact on consumers is that they are dragged through a maze of security and risk protocols while at the same time being targeted or re-targeted products and services that are not always relevant. We challenged senior executives at 650 companies to think about whether they can accurately identify their customers and meet their customers’ needs for a relevant experience to not only help them create a more trusted relationship with a consumer but also to reduce fraud losses. We also surveyed over 6,500 consumers who had a lot to say about what constitutes best-in-class digital customer experience. Perception versus reality Our study found that 95% of businesses worldwide believe they are accurately identifying their customers yet 55% of consumers don’t feel recognized.   In our survey last year, 84% of businesses said that if they could better identify their customers, then they could easily spot fraud.  However, 57% of business reported having significantly higher fraud losses this year versus last year.  How can this be true if businesses are in fact as strong as they believe they are at recognizing their customers and thus, presumably by extension, fraudsters? This then begs the question: how are businesses defining “recognition” and is it really working?   Are they recognizing a customer to a person or are they able to categorize a customer into prescriptive buckets such as broad demographic delineations? Expectations for customer engagement Our study also found that 74% of consumers say security is still the most important factor when deciding to engage with a business online. This has been a consistent finding over the past two years. In fact, consumers are even willing to give more personal information for greater security and easier access to their accounts later, once they are comfortable. Despite this, over half of businesses are prioritizing personalization over security when making improvements to their customer experience.  Consumers acknowledged experiencing and appreciating the changes businesses are making to their digital experience however security remained to be their most important criteria for engaging or continuing to engage with a business. What now? Desires for ultimate experience and concerns for security are still shaping the digital relationship between consumers and businesses where identity is at the heart of every customer decision and interaction.  We believe businesses will need to invest further in data, infrastructure, and advanced analytics in order to get to a point of truly recognizing a consumer digitally as opposed to categorizing for broad brush pseudo personalization purposes.  Only then will businesses start to make a dent in fulfilling the high consumer expectations for recognition as well as in mitigating rising fraud. Download our report (15 min read) and find out more about: Challenges standing in the way of businesses trying to identify their customers What different businesses and countries are doing to improve identity authentication The new type of customer journey that executives believe will improve the digital experience

Through Experian’s technology and cutting-edge innovations, we’re helping consumers build their credit histories and access affordable, mainstream financial products. We are truly improving consumer’s financial lives in a meaningful way. But, with all the exciting innovations in technology, sometimes, it’s easy to forget the impact we can create in our everyday interactions with people.   Let me give you an example.    I recently traveled to Nashville, TN for a conference. Since I didn’t know my way around the area, I hired a driver to pick me up and take me to my hotel. As I was heading to the airport exit, I saw a woman holding a sign that read “Experian.” I introduced myself and we both got into the car and headed for the hotel.   As we were driving, she asked, “So, do you really work at Experian?” “Here we go…” I thought as I responded, “Yes, I do.”   She went on to tell me she was a Desert Storm veteran who faced some real financial hardships that tanked her credit score when she returned home from war. She saw a commercial for Experian Boost, our new tool that allows people to get credit for paying their telecom and utility bills on time. After trying the free tool, her score went up 11 points. This boost got her thinking about other ways she could improve her credit score. I spent the rest of our drive sharing some credit education including the importance improving her debt to income ratio, lowering utilization rates and making on time payments.   As we pulled up to my hotel and I got out of the car, she asked if she could give me a hug. “Of course,” I said. I was touched and slightly surprised, to see how much of an effect I had on her. Only, I didn’t realize then just how much of an impact our conversation would truly make on her life.   I recently had a chance to reconnect with Renee Preston. She told me about the dramatic changes she’s made since we met that are creating a lasting impact on her financial health.    At the time Renee picked me up, she was $56,000 in debt and her credit score was 605. Just a few months after meeting her, Renee put some of the credit education tips I shared with her into practice. Since then, she’s lowered her debt by $36,000 and her credit score has improved by more than 60 points. While Renee knows she still has work to do, she is inspired to continue to improve her financial wellbeing.  “I’ve been driving for more than 26 years. I’ve met all kinds of celebrities like Pink and Justin Timberlake. The fact that Alex took the time to talk to a little person like me, it really meant a lot. Since we met, I’ve taken a lot of steps to improve my credit and finances including getting a job with a much higher salary. I truly feel I owe all of these changes to Alex.”  Renee Preston, Nashville, TN  As a company, we are committed to helping people improve their financial lives. When we talk about being the consumer’s bureau, this is exactly what we mean.   I’m so thankful I had the opportunity to meet Renee. I’m inspired to continue to find new ways to improve people’s financial health, both personally and as a leading member of Experian’s team.  

Technology revolutionizes the way businesses operate, but implementing change within a company is often challenging and company-wide support is vital to successfully undergoing a transformation. At Experian, we’re using technology and innovation to modernize an industry, and satisfy the real-time data demands of consumers and businesses.  The success of this transformation is one of the reasons why we’re proud that our Global CIO, Barry Libenson, has been named the CIO of the Year. The 2019 Dive Awards recognize the industry’s top disruptors and innovators. These executives, companies, trends, and breakthroughs are transforming the industry. Winners were chosen by the editors of CIO Dive based on thorough and independent research, reporting, and analysis. Other award winners include Google Cloud and VMware. In 2015, Experian began the daunting task of moving from a traditional computing architecture to the cloud. Specifically, we put in motion a cloud strategy centered on flexibility and the ability to operate in any cloud. Such transformations often start by centralizing data and implementing new processes that minimize overhead and speed time to market, like cloud and mobile computing. This is a monumental job with our massive digital infrastructure and significant global reach, but it enables us to provide customers with real-time access to data. To do this we pioneered the use of Hadoop to store massive quantities of data for consumer credit scoring. Today, we maintain Ascend, a platform of 250 million redacted consumer records that enables our clients do real time queries on consumer credit data rather than batch processing. This has worked to digitally transform Experian from a traditional credit bureau to a technology and software provider. For us to further evolve we began working on APIs for internal use rather than going straight to customer-facing features. Today, we use APIs to help our clients and consumers access and make use of key data insights. For example, Experian Boost, which has helped millions of people raise their credit scores, is a result of information being accessed through API calls. As a result of our digital transformation, our API hub is processing more than 100 million transactions a month and Ascend is now one of our most successful cloud computing architectures. This all represents business opportunities that wouldn’t have been possible with a traditional digital infrastructure. Success for the technology team at Experian is found in the financial performance of the company.  "What I tell my team is the biggest sign of us being successful is praise," said Libenson. "When the businesses at Experian tell us we're helping them or we're doing the right things, that's the best measurement I can think of, in terms of success." As one of the world’s most innovative companies, Experian’s business continues to evolve to deliver faster, better services for our clients and consumers. "The people and organizations that win the Dive Awards are trailblazers and leaders in their markets," said Davide Savenije, editor-in-chief of CIO Dive’s publisher Industry Dive. "Their achievements in 2019 are shaping the future of where the latest strategies and trends are going." While industry accolades like CIO of the Year are important, the truth is that any transformation isn't an endpoint, but a journey. To succeed, we are in it for the long haul to use technology to help deliver results for our clients.   Read the full article on CIODive to learn more about Experian’s digital transformation.

In today's fast-paced markets, businesses of all sizes strive for an edge over competition, especially when it comes to wining over consumers' hearts and minds. Many find that competitive advantage in the way they apply artificial intelligence to improve their customer decision-making for high business performance. Data strategies for high-performance decisioning In today's fast-paced markets, businesses of all sizes strive for an edge over competition, especially when it comes to wining over consumers' hearts and minds. Many find that competitive advantage in the way they apply artificial intelligence to improve their customer decision-making for high business performance.In fact, recent research we commissioned from Forrester Consulting shows that this. The ability to make meaningful decisions that match your customer's context at a given point in time requires a solid understanding of their needs and goals. Having access to relevant data is essential to consistently deliver experiences that matter. Timing and availability of data is equally important to improving your customer-level decision-making; to make those sought-after better, contextual decisions, you need to have the pertinent data available at the right place and time to meet that given consumer's moment of need. For example, in an operational environment, this may translate into accessing the right type, amount and quality of data in real time, so you are able to respond how and when your customer expects. The role of responsible usage of data in building, fuelling, and maintaining your AI-driven business The energy needs of athletes exceed those of the average person. Similarly, in the AI world, data (nutrient) needs for high-performance require consistent markers over a long period of time. Data scientists looking after credit and fraud risk would use the same variables or 'nutrients' that have been traditionally used for conventional scorecard developments to fuel machine learning methods to build predictive models. These are 'proteins' such as application data, any behavioural data your business has on existing customers, credit bureau data, segmentation data, available public information or transaction data. Some trended economic data can be used as input for developing credit risk methods and governance to fit leading financial reporting standards and frameworks (think of IFRS 9 or Basel, for example). Similarly, to assess affordability, you will need to feed your algorithms with disposable income over your customers' lifetime plus data about how they use it. Financial data about customers' savings, and investments allows for more accurate risk management while property related info derived from rental data is useful for extending personalised credit offers. Meanwhile, more and more businesses are using speech and text data obtained through voice recognition to improve the collection process. In fact, recent research we commissioned from Forrester Consulting shows that this 'race for the customer' comes down to who knows them best. The ability to make meaningful decisions that match your customer's context at a given point in time requires a solid understanding of their needs and goals. Having access to relevant data is essential to consistently deliver experiences that matter. Timing and availability of data is equally important to improving your customer-level decision-making; to make those sought-after better, contextual decisions, you need to have the pertinent data available at the right place and time to meet that given consumer's moment of need. For example, in an operational environment, this may translate into accessing the right type, amount and quality of data in real time, so you are able to respond how and when your customer expects. The role of responsible usage of data in building, fuelling, and maintaining your AI-driven business The energy needs of athletes exceed those of the average person. Similarly, in the AI world, data (nutrient) needs for high-performance require consistent markers over a long period of time. Data scientists looking after credit and fraud risk would use the same variables or 'nutrients' that have been traditionally used for conventional scorecard developments to fuel machine learning methods to build predictive models. These are 'proteins' such as application data, any behavioural data your business has on existing customers, credit bureau data, segmentation data, available public information or transaction data. Some trended economic data can be used as input for developing credit risk methods and governance to fit leading financial reporting standards and frameworks (think of IFRS 9 or Basel, for example). Similarly, to assess affordability, you will need to feed your algorithms with disposable income over your customers' lifetime plus data about how they use it. Financial data about customers' savings, and investments allows for more accurate risk management while property related info derived from rental data is useful for extending personalised credit offers. Meanwhile, more and more businesses are using speech and text data obtained through voice recognition to improve the collection process.    

To stay ahead of the competition and on the path of sustained growth, you need clear line of sight to both risks and opportunities through the customer lifecycle. Gaining better insights on customers is critical to achieving that, so you can make all the right decisions, big and small, about your customers and business clients. Based on the conversations we have with our clients, we have noticed that most executives are paying a lot of attention to measuring customer experience and reducing friction across digital touch-points through the lifecycle. For customer acquisition, for example, businesses like yours look at time spent on each micro-step (e.g. data field), dropout rates at each of those steps, and do A/B testing at a very granular level. The idea is to understand all points of friction including points of confusion, frustration, etc., so you can learn from those and improve the experience. But this is not an easy task. The various challenges involved are making sense of the vast quantities of data and the immaturity of that data as well as the construct of that data. Given the fast pace at which data analytics change and evolve, our recommendation is that you invest in tools that are data and/or analytics agnostic. Thinking ahead: leveraging data analytics and cloud-based decisioning platforms to design the right customer treatment There is a largely untapped opportunity to leverage data, analytics, optimisation and decision management solutions - such as cloud-based decisioning platforms - to design the right customer treatment and identify the next best action for that customer. Selecting the appropriate timing, medium, and channel for those actions lead to greater consistency and contribute to having more relevant communications with your customers. The more relevant you are, the more precise you are with the offers and the treatments leading to improved response rates, greater connectivity and interaction with the customer. This results in memorable experiences that enhance loyalty and drive profitability.

Building a credit history takes time. Establishing a credit history early in life can help ensure you have access to affordable credit when you need it. The problem is that people tend to learn about credit and finances through trial and error. This is unfortunate because recovering from financial mistakes takes time, too. In fact, it could take years to rebound from one financial misstep. This trend is especially common for young adults who are just beginning to get their financial feet wet, and it’s one of the many reasons credit education and improving the financial health of consumers of all ages is core to our mission at Experian. As Director of Consumer Education and Advocacy, I get the opportunity to talk to a variety of students and young adults across the country on a regular basis. Millennials and Gen Z are often labeled slackers, but I don’t believe that for an instant. They experienced the financial crisis firsthand in their early years, and they really don’t want to repeat what their parents went through. Can you blame them, really? One thing we know for certain about young adults is they are very interested in learning as much as they can about money, finance and credit, and it’s our goal to be an educational resource to them. As the saying goes, you don’t know what you don’t know. We have a chance to give younger generations the information and tools to know more than previous generations did at their ages. Here are some of my favorite tried and true tips to help set young adults up for credit success: Start small and grow slowly. A secured account with a small credit limit can establish your credit history and help you start saving at the same time. Good credit and strong savings habits go hand-in-hand. You don't need a credit card with a high limit to have good credit. Use the credit you have wisely. Good credit scores are not about having a lot of credit, but rather about how you use the credit you have available. Make a small purchase each month and pay it in full. That will show you can use credit well without taking on debt. Use your cell phone to improve your credit. With Experian Boost, you can add positive telecom and utility payments to your credit history and possibly boost your credit score. In the past, failing to pay your utility or cell phone bills could hurt your credit, but paying on time didn't help. With Experian Boost, that's changed. Use technology to make managing your credit automatic. Millennials and Gen Zers are the most technologically savvy generations in our history. Use technology, such as online banking apps and credit management tools like the Experian app, to automate savings and payments, to alert you to potential fraud and to track your progress as you build your credit history. We know helping people better understand and access credit is a team effort, and we work closely with our advocacy networks to increase our impact. We recently joined the American Bankers Association to provide young adults with financial education. Leading up to Get Smart About Credit Day, we hosted a Facebook Live with Jeni Pastier, Director of Financial Education Programs for the American Bankers Association to address credit topics young adults typically don’t understand or know about at all. You can watch the full video here and find additional articles to get smarter about credit on the Ask Experian blog.

I recently had the opportunity to discuss the current state of #data collection, analytics, and AI in an interview with @CIODive. As technology advances, businesses can collect and analyse more data than ever before. However, most of that information ends up languishing, seldom being used or even catalogued. Recent research suggests that partly, this happens because businesses are unaware of what data they store or don't know how to get actionable insights out of it. This lack of visibility into data stores affects organisations' readiness to apply artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML): advanced analytics require data to be properly managed and organised. At Experian, we believe in taking an outcome-focused approach to analytics and AI as we look at activating the power of our data AI outcomes. We work backwards, from high-impact client and consumer outcomes, and bringing to bear the analytics, AI and data to achieve them. This way, we can assess more accurately what effort across data collection and analytics is required to achieve an outcome. Executed effectively this can avoid an enormous amount of investment in people, time, data. If you're interested in this topic, I'd recommend you to read the article in full: http://bit.ly/AImlShri_CIODive

I was born and raised in Germany and had the privilege of moving to the U.S. for my undergraduate degree. When I started school, my parents made a deal with me that they would pay one-third of my tuition. I got a job at the campus library to pay another third but still was short by a third. To cover the gap, I decided to try my luck as an entrepreneur.  Specifically, the dollar was very strong due to which it seemed feasible to buy a German luxury car in my native Germany, refurbish it to U.S. specs, drive it for a little while and still turn a healthy profit. In order to purchase my first car, I needed a loan. However, like most new immigrants, I was credit invisible. Meaning, the credit history I had in Germany did not come with me to the U.S. Because of this, I was forced to rely on alternative lending as traditional lenders did not have enough information to assess if I was a good credit risk. With no other options, I turned to an alternative lender and secured a high interest loan. Thankfully, I was able to maintain my payments and paid off the loan in fifteen months, that is, when I sold the car. At this time, obtaining credit from an alternative lender was not factored into a traditional credit history. This meant that even though I repaid the loan responsibly, it did not help build my U.S.  credit file or my credit score when I was ready to do it all again. This experience is what fuels my passion to maintain Experian’s position as the leader in alternative credit data and improve consumer financial health. We know that a consumer’s traditional lending history for things like credit cards, personal loans, auto loans, and mortgages are a proven method to assess creditworthiness, but sometimes there isn't enough data to score all consumers.  Many consumers who are excluded from the traditional credit ecosystem are in fact creditworthy, but due to an international move, divorce or simply a lack of experience with credit, they’re unscorable and or invisible to lenders. Whether you’re new to the country or just getting your financial feet wet, starting to build your credit history can be difficult. If we indeed can play a role in helping consumers live the American dream, I believe it’s our responsibility to do that. The good news is the lending market is in a pivotal state of change and I believe it’s for the better. At Experian, we can now use the responsible payments consumers make to alternative lenders as well as their rental payments, professional licensures, utility and cell phone payments, and, of course, their traditional credit history to help consumers gain access to the financial services they need. We recently announced Experian Lift™ - a new suite of credit score products that combines exclusive traditional credit, alternative credit and trended data assets to create a more holistic picture of consumer creditworthiness. We believe Experian Lift may improve access to credit for more than 40 million credit invisibles. It’s another step in our commitment to helping improve the financial health of consumers everywhere. As you may know, earlier this year, Experian launched Experian Boost – a free and first-of-its-kind financial tool that empowers consumers to add positive telecom and utility payment history directly into their Experian credit file for an opportunity to instantly increase their FICO Score. Through Experian Boost, we’re empowering consumers to play an active role in building their credit histories. And, with Experian Lift, we’re empowering lenders to identify consumers who may otherwise be excluded from the traditional credit ecosystem. Thin file or subprime consumers have typically been viewed as a fringe and stigmatized segment of society. I can speak from personal experience and say this is not the case. With more than 100 million consumers lacking access to fair and affordable credit, we know this is mainstream America and we need to continue to provide solutions. As the consumer’s bureau, our goal is to help consumers and maintain access to credit. We’re proud of our latest innovations and will continue to identify new means to help consumers gain access to the financial services they need.