Innovation
Insights from our Leaders
Innovation is at the heart of our business and our culture. It is one of the reasons we’re proud to be named one of the top 100 most innovative companies in the world for the fifth year in a row by Forbes magazine. In the publication\'s eighth annual list of the \"World\'s Most Innovative Companies,\" Experian climbed to the rank of 57th and is amongst the top 10 most innovative companies headquartered in Europe. Technology, innovation and new sources of data are fusing to create an unprecedented number of new ways for us to solve pressing business and consumer challenges. This accolade underscores our commitment to innovation, and using the power of data and technology to transform lives, businesses and economies for the better. At Experian, we have created a culture of continuous innovation focused on opportunities for businesses and consumers in today’s digital and data economy. Just a few examples include our involvement with the TechCity FinTech4All competition, which aims to discover a new generation of innovators and entrepreneurs who will change the future of finance, and our Experian MicroAnalytics work, which has extended over 5 billion credit offers to the world’s unbanked people. Experian has jumped up 40 places in this year’s Forbes ranking, placing us alongside some of the world’s leading technology companies including Tesla, Netflix and Amazon. This accolade demonstrates investors\' confidence in Experian’s ability to innovate, both today and in the years ahead, and is a testament to the tireless work of our employees. Even more exciting is that we’re leading our industry in innovation. This is reflected in Experian being the only credit bureau to make the list this year. And innovation experts agree. According to author Greg Satell, who profiled Experian in his highly touted business book Mapping Innovation: A Playbook for Navigating a Disruptive Age, “Experian is the manifestation of a culture of discovery that enables it to grow and evolve while remaining at the forefront of innovation.” The key to our success going forward is to continue to actively seek out unresolved problems and to create new products and technologies that will helps transform the way businesses operate and consumers thrive in today’s society. Learn more about some of our pioneering innovations here: Connecting Businesses in Brazil Through Data Analytics Experian DataLabs Is Experimenting with a ‘Voice to Credit’ Feature Delivering Value in the Digital Age: Exploring UK Attitudes Towards Data We\'re on the Brink of a New Era of Innovation FinTech Breakthrough Selects Experian for “Consumer Lending Innovation Award” in 2018 Data on Demand – Unlock New Insights, Create Opportunities Faster than the Speed of Fraud -- CrossCore
Experian MicroAnalytics has surpassed a record 5 billion credit offers, demonstrating our commitment to helping people in emerging markets create credit profiles and improve financial well-being. In emerging markets around the world, people have limited access to financial products, especially credit. At Experian MicroAnalytics we’ve developed a sustainable solution to provide billions of people with access to financial products, easily accessed through their mobile phones, unlocking the power of alternative data in countries across Latin America, Asia, Africa and beyond. “We’re thrilled to have extended over five billion credit offers,” said Elio Vitucci, CEO of Experian MicroAnalytics. “2017 was our fastest-growing year, and we are now extending over 270 million credit offers every month. Our goal is to help people in emerging markets build a strong financial identity. We build financial identities using mobile phone behavioral data, one of the richest sources of customer insight, and unlock an initial set of financial products. As customers use these products, they strengthen their financial identities and obtain access to an increasingly wider set of financial services.” While only a minority of people in emerging markets have access to banking services and even fewer have access to credit services, the vast majority have a mobile phone, most on a prepaid plan. Experian MicroAnalytics partners with mobile network operators around the world, using mobile behavioral data to start creating initial financial identities for people. With these financial identities, customers can start to gain access to simple but useful financial products, such as airtime credit. As customers continue to take and repay their borrowed airtime credits successfully, they strengthen their financial identities and progressively unlock a wider, more complete set of financial services. This creates a virtuous circle, where in time customers graduate to a full set of financial products. “We help consumers in emerging markets to build a financial identity, unlocking access to financial products such as loans, credit cards, insurance and more, all available via their mobile devices,” Vitucci added. “These financial products fuel economic development, stimulate growth and have a positive impact on the quality of life for billions of people.”
Elio Vitucci, CEO of Experian MicroAnalytics, authored the op-ed Financial Empowerment for the Emerging Market Consumer in U.S. News & World Report. To date, Experian MicroAnalytics has extended over 4.9 billion credit offers to the world’s unbanked people, and nearly half of those offers were in the past year. The new emerging market consumer is becoming empowered with tools and services needed for a better quality of life and economic vitality. Experian MicroAnalytics contributes to global progress by helping those with no credit history gain access to credit and financial products for their businesses and personal needs. In regions where financial history doesn\'t exist, understanding creditworthiness is a challenge. While only a small minority of people in emerging markets have access to credit services, the vast majority have access to mobile services — most of them on a prepaid plan. As such, an alternate credit identity can now be established. Financial services in the emerging world are drastically underserving the potential banked population. Long-term economic growth in the emerging world hinges on access to financial services. Unlocking the new consumer\'s credit capability is the new financial frontier. Learn more about how Experian is empowering emerging market consumers with financial products and services to improve quality of life and increase prosperity around the world.
Identity fraud is at an all-time high, and it can have devastating consequences on a person’s life. Victims of identity fraud may have to file for bankruptcy or deal with debt, which can sometimes cause personal relationships to suffer. Elderly people in particular are at the greatest risk of fraud out of any age group, as they tend to more trusting of phone calls, house calls and email scams. It’s my job at Experian to arm them with the tools they need to prevent identity fraud. The number one challenge in helping prevent identity fraud is lack of awareness. People simply don’t know all the risks, so education is a paramount priority. At Experian, we conducted research on the best way to educate different age groups, and found that it varied widely. While younger people are best reached online, older people are more responsive to face-to-face activities, which is part of the reason they are more susceptible to doorstep scams. To help educate elderly people, we found we needed to go out into the community and literally put useful information into people’s hands. As part of these efforts, my team at Experian first worked with the Outreach Solutions organization to help older people in Nottinghamshire, England, understand the dangers of fraud. The pilot campaign, “Tackling Fraud,” reached 15,000 U.K. residents over age 55, teaching them how to tackle the threat of fraud. We armed these individuals with expert advice on how to spot suspicious activity and stop it from happening to them or the people they care about. Given the success and great reception we had in Nottinghamshire, it was clear that this movement could continue growing. According to Experian research, Glasgow is one of the areas with the highest number of identity fraud cases in Scotland. We’d been testing a new television advertisement in Glasgow – marking the first time that identity fraud has ever been advertised on TV in the U.K. – so I made the case to run the next iteration of our Tackling Fraud campaign there, too. In partnership with the Glasgow Council for the Voluntary Sector, we worked with a range of individuals and community groups to provide fraud prevention training to more than 30,000 elderly people in the city. We’re dedicated to helping the elderly with our Tackling Fraud campaign, putting people in control of their lives by giving them the information they need to help them protect themselves. I hope that one day we can take this project throughout the U.K. Written by: Phil Rance, Director of Product Identity, Experian Consumer Services
Promoting a better understanding about how the credit economy works and improving financial awareness, so that people can take control of their financial situation with positive, proactive decisions, is absolutely fundamental to our business strategy. This is encapsulated through our financial education programmes. In partnership with Young Enterprise, we have created 28 Centres of Excellence for schools to support children’s financial education. And through Experian’s Values, Money & Me, we have created the UK’s first free online teaching resource to help children develop their financial knowledge and abilities. Credit Awareness Week is, then, a natural place for us to continue that focus. And to take that conversation more widely, to our industry partners, for us all to consider how we might find better ways of working, and drive better outcomes for our customers. There’s no doubt that we are living through a period of significant financial uncertainty. At times like this it is important that consumers are aware of all the options available to them from a financial perspective. And we believe your credit score is one of the first things you should look at. It’s perhaps surprising then that our annual Credit Awareness Week consumer survey found that public awareness of credit and how it can be used to help with day to day challenges still remains relatively low, despite some signs of improvement – potentially driven by the widespread availability of free score services. The percentage of people who said they know their current credit score went up from 22% to 26%, while 47% have ever checked their credit report, up from 45% last year. However, there is still much misunderstanding coming through. 39% of those surveyed wrongly believe their own credit score can be affected by a previous resident of their address having a poor credit score, while 14% think, incorrectly, that checking their own credit report and score has an impact on their credit rating. More than a quarter (26%) are also wrong to believe having a high income can affect their score, while 14% are incorrect to think checking their own score has an impact. The number of people who believe that the system needs to provide clearer explanation about how the decision was made when credit is refused has also increased. What the results of our poll tell me is that more needs to be done in promoting a better understanding about all the options available, like the existence of eligibility and comparison services which are designed to help empower people shop around for better deals and, where credit is concerned, avoid damaging their score while they do so. So there is work to do in building a better understanding about how credit works, which is something we are committed to and that’s why we are supporting this campaign. To help, Experian and Credit Strategy have launched an improved ‘credit refusal pathfinder’ [add hyperlink] tool, to help guide people who apply for credit and get turned down. I’d encourage everyone, even those of us who think we know this business inside out, to take a look at the tool. And, in the spirit of building greater trust and transparency with our customers, let’s take this opportunity to have a think about what we in the industry can do to make things clearer for people. Helping them understand how lending decisions are made and empowering them to take control of their financial situation and make better, sustainable choices through affordable access to finance.
In the United Kingdom, the Financial Inclusion Commission has previously expressed concern that 31 percent of the adult population has experienced one or more signs of financial distress, such as regularly accruing overdraft charges and using credit to pay for essentials each month. While the Bank of England has warned U.K. households about the risk and effects of their alarming, yet growing, dependence on loans and credit cards, knowing how to manage debt successfully is a vital skill many lack. While most individuals do comfortably manage their debt repayments, many unexpectedly face tough times, especially following disruptive life events that complicate financial management. Since joining Experian from university in 1992, I have been involved in a number of developments and initiatives to help people better manage their money, particularly during difficult times. Years ago, I oversaw the launch of our first telephone helpdesk for the UK public, and today I still answer questions online and occasionally on the radio from individuals worried about their credit scores and loan payments. After years of one-on-one interactions, my team and I have discovered that the key to growing our capacity to serve the community is through partnerships. To provide more effective support for U.K. consumers, Experian began to partner with debt advice charities that give free and professional guidance to people, including about credit score issues. Experian’s role is to make sure debt advisors understand the nuances of credit reporting and credit scoring when talking to and helping their clients. We provide this support in a number of ways. In the last year alone, we have trained more than 600 debt advisors through workshops and seminars, and provided free credit reports to more than 60,000 individuals through debt counselling outlets. Additionally, we have used our insight and data consultancy services to help a number of charities better understand, engage with and support their clients, for example, by identifying their clients’ preferred communications channels. This has included the Money Advice Trust, which runs National Debtline, and StepChange Debt Charity, a leading UK debt counselling provider. Our partnerships within the debt advice sector have not only enabled us to support, educate and empower more consumers to reach their financial goals, but also helped Experian better understand consumers’ greatest fears and misconceptions when it comes to finances. I have enjoyed representing Experian for the past 25 years including working with a number of great organizations and really passionate individuals – so much so that I jumped at the opportunity to join the board of a new debt advice charity, The Debt Counsellors Charitable Trust, a couple of years ago which was very much focused on helping the most vulnerable people. The relationships I’ve developed with these intelligent, ambitious debt advice advisors and charities has really inspired and humbled me. They work tirelessly every day to ensure households in the U.K. can reach their financial milestones – including, importantly, when things go wrong – and I am grateful to be a part of this important network. James Jones: Head of Consumer Affairs, U.K.
To date, in the U.K. mortgage payments have counted toward building credit scores while monthly rental payments have not. As a result, those who live in social housing are at a disadvantage when trying to build financial credibility. Even if social housing renters do manage their money well and pay their rent on time, the system currently does not take into account these rental payments to help them build their credit scores. Because of this, they may be excluded from more affordable credit lines, leading to an unfair cycle where they are not given the same opportunities to build positive credit and demonstrate financial credibility as those who make mortgage payments. To address this inequality, I became a product manager for The Rental Exchange two years ago. The Rental Exchange is a joint initiative Experian started with Big Issue Invest – an organization that invests in social enterprises and charities preventing poverty in the U.K. This program works with registered social housing providers to incorporate tenants’ rent payment histories into their credit file, with no cost to either the housing provider or the tenant. I cannot tell you how rewarding it is to give people with limited credit history the chance to build-up their credit score and gain access to more affordable lines of credit. My role in The Rental Exchange begins and ends with data. Step one is giving renters the opportunity to sign up and share their rental payment data with Experian, which they can do after consulting with their landlords. After we examine the data, we share insights with credit lenders, including banks, Telco and utility providers, helping them improve their credit decisions by basing their choices on more information than they had before. Without this data, a lender wouldn’t be able to see that a tenant is responsible in paying their rent on time, so they may be more inclined to charge that consumer a higher interest rate or even turn them down for credit as deemed too high a risk. But with our help, the lender can clearly see that a tenant has consistently paid their rent on time, so they can extend more favorable conditions. Every day is a milestone for The Rental Exchange. More and more individuals and social housing providers are seeking us out to share rental payment data, helping drive the program forward to reach new communities. Data is all about creating a story. Personally, I’d love to hear and share more stories about how The Rental Exchange has helped an individual or family get access to the best credit deal possible, because it’s time that all tenants were given the same access to financial services as home owners. Patrick Gray: Product Manager, Consumer Information Services, UK&I
This morning on my way into the office, I made my usual stop for coffee. Just like every other day, the barista greeted me by name and my usual drink was being made before I got to the counter. Doesn’t it feel nice when you’re recognized? The same holds true when we interact online. We want to be recognized when we transact online, because recognition helps to stimulate trust. And trust is what makes all of us feel safe and protected. New research from our Global Fraud and Identity Report demonstrates that customer recognition also plays a large role in indicators of fraud. Most of the 500 business executives in 11 countries that we interviewed across the globe, said that if they were certain about a customer’s identity, the need for fraud risk mitigation would be reduced. One of the trickiest components to fraud detection, is finding the fine line between turning away good customers and letting the fraudsters slip through. Our global research revealed that most businesses tend to demonstrate suspicion when it comes to preventing fraud, following a route of detection rather than permission or trust. In fact, 71 percent of businesses know that they deny more transactions than they should. The end result isn’t just a loss of sales, but it also may very likely damage the lifetime value of that customer. Business leaders agree that if they were more precise in identifying the customer and avoiding denial of real transactions, they would see an increase in revenue. In addition, the report confirmed what we all already know – as consumers, we expect the companies we do business with to protect us. We surveyed 5,500 people in 11 countries, and many said they equate visual signs of security and the barriers they encounter when accessing their accounts to mean the transaction is more secure. Nearly 7 out of every 10 people like the security protocols when they transact online because it makes them feel protected. As customers, we want to believe that banks and retailers are doing everything they can to protect and secure our online transactions. Our study also found that 72 percent of businesses say fraud is a growing concern, with online fraud continuing to be a top concern across the globe. One of out every 10 businesses are experiencing the same or more fraudulent losses online compared to a year ago. Fraud is always evolving and fraudsters are becoming more resourceful than ever before. And while there is no silver bullet, and good modern fraud detection requires multiple fraud detection strategies, better customer recognition could make an immediate difference. Simply put, the better you recognize the customer, the better you can recognize fraud. Get a copy of the complete Global Fraud and Identity Report
Patients ideally should know what they’re going to owe when they show up for an appointment – the last thing they need is a big financial surprise to add to the stress of their visit. Similarly, doctors, nurses, hospitals and all healthcare providers help people to stay healthy day in and day out. Providers should be able to go to sleep at night knowing that they’ll be fairly compensated for the work that they do. However, making that happen isn’t easy. Behind the scenes, contracts, benefits and eligibility between medical groups, hospitals and insurance payers are fairly nuanced and complex. Clients benefit when it comes to how much a patient owes a hospital or medical group after treatment, rough estimates aren’t ideal – perfection is difficult/ create problems and issues. Billing must have pinpoint accuracy and add nuance based on unique contract terms that all medical groups and hospitals sign with their employers and payers. The details can actually be quite difficult to keep straight, and there is an extensive amount of variation in each contract’s rules. Experian Health works to make payment transparency the norm, so that patients know what to expect and healthcare providers are paid fairly, accurately and in a timely fashion. I began working for Experian in 2004 but my interest in product development and research eventually led me to Experian Health. My team of more than 100 Experian employees painstakingly reviews contracts, patient eligibility, benefits information and historical claims to generate an accurate fee estimate for each patient’s medical visit. Nuance/aiding are helping to work toward this. We utilize up-to-date technology that organizes all the information we find in an extensive database and review the claims on behalf of both our medical group clients and patients. The biggest challenge for me and my team is anticipating both patients’ and hospitals’ future needs and innovation in the field. Any time healthcare policies are changed or reimbursement guidelines shift, it affects our clients and requires nimble thinking on our part. How do we ensure that our technology is as modern as possible and our team members stay current on the latest trends and news? I’m looking forward to seeing how we continue adapting in the future.