NA – North America
Here is what Experian employees are doing in North America …
I’m a Senior Vice President of Sales, responsible for leading Experian Health’s teams as they assist hospitals, physicians, labs and pharmacies across the U.S. We provide technology for providers and patients to help keep the costs and payment processing component of healthcare easy and transparent. The part of my work I am most passionate about, however, is our efforts to decrease identity theft in healthcare. Medical identity theft is one of the fastest growing areas of identity fraud in the world. With everything moving online at a fast pace, health care providers may not always keep up with the protections needed with new technologies. Unfortunately, that means hackers can sometimes acquire a patient’s personal information – name, Social Security number, health insurance number – to illegally obtain medical services or devices, insurance reimbursements or prescription drugs. One of the biggest issues with this type of fraud is that it leaves its victims with little to no recourse for recovery. They often experience financial repercussions and discover that faulty information has been added to their personal medical files as a result. To address this issue, my team and I partnered with Experian’s Decision Analytics team to create a new tool that protects patients’ online portals in much the same way that banks have protected their online clients for years. Additionally, our team is the in process of launching a Universal Identity Matching solution – a unique PIN which acts like the Social Security Number for your health care information. As more health care companies begin to adopt it, this PIN will be the one thing you will need to carry with you, as it will be your unique identifier for all your health care experiences. A lot of processes in hospitals today are still manual, but I want to change that. I want to automate systems so hospital staff can focus on where they are most needed. I am proud to work at a company that’s at the forefront of solving the major problems in healthcare IT. Being able to provide technological solutions in an industry where you can directly see the benefit is both personally and professionally rewarding. Read more #ExperianStories from our colleagues around the world.
I’m a Senior Director of Experian’s Decision Analytics Global Consulting Practice. That means I help banks manage their credit and fraud risk to help drive profits forward. Many of my clients are banks that need help across multiple business units, including credit cards, auto loans and mortgages. What I love about my job is how it constantly challenges me to expand my imagination of what data is capable of achieving. I’m always finding new ways to use data to keep banks’ revenue flowing, save them money, improve underwriting criteria for people seeking auto loans and help banking customers get a better rate on their mortgage. For example, I was recently approached by a major bank that needed a way to collect on delinquent credit card accounts that had previously been written off. The bank needed a way to collect on these accounts that would work within their budget and strict pricing structures while providing the maximum amount of revenue. Using data, I was able to show the bank a solution that not only improved delinquency rates on their numerous credit card accounts, but also provided a significant reduction in operational expenses. Technology has enabled us to do so much more for banks like this. I began working for Experian in the 1970s, when credit reporting was a highly manual process where clients would call us and we would read their credit report back to them over the phone. I’ve held a number of positions within the company over the years and have seen it undergo tremendous growth and change. Some things, however, never change. After having worked at Experian for 46 years, I am proud to say data still powers everything we do here. Read more #ExperianStories from our colleagues around the world.
The benefits of financial education are clear — higher economic growth, lower poverty rates and greater consumer confidence. This is why we put education as a top priority.
I’m a Senior Product Strategy Manager in Experian’s Consumer Services department. I help banks connect people to the loans and credit cards they need, but my role is always changing because the world around us is changing. My team and I noticed how a whole generation is now thinking differently from other generations about the way they work and live. Rather than joining a large corporation, they make a living through a variety of platforms, like Uber, Airbnb and others — stringing together multiple jobs to make their income on their own timetable. The challenge for these people comes when they go to a bank to take out a loan, apply for a credit card or try to finance a car. The banks have difficultly gauging their risk or creditworthiness because they don’t have a traditional income source or because their credit footprint is difficult to trace. Banks refer to those types of individuals as “credit invisibles.” That’s where my team and I come in. We brainstorm ideas and create concepts for Experian to implement that will enable us to aggregate data from alternative sources — like utility bills or phone bills — to give banks a more accurate, robust view of each individual. Additionally, we create useful tools that help people manage their multiple income streams to ensure they’re able to meet their financial obligations each month. As the wealth of data in the world continues to grow, I see myself as an innovator who turns data into utility that works for people. I am constantly dreaming up new ways to connect banks with people who need a loan to feed their family, send their kids to college or buy a car for work. I want to help people take the guesswork out of taking each of life’s biggest steps. I want to empower them — through their data — to realize their dreams. Read more #ExperianStories from our colleagues around the world.
Alternative data opens up doors to financial access for consumers - and Experian has been at the forefront of collecting, using and advocating for the use of alternative data for many years. This topic was explored and analyzed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in a hearing today in Charleston, West Virginia.
During the National Football League’s biggest weekend, it’s often the commercials that take center stage. It’s every advertiser’s dream. The world as your audience. But how do advertisers capitalize on the opportunity and connect with viewers?
Most people who tune into the Super Bowl fall into one of three buckets – Those who watch for the love of the game Those who want to check out the halftime show entertainment And those of us, typically advertising and pop-culture geeks like myself, who tune in just for the commercials. But let’s not kid ourselves, you don’t have to be in advertising to love the commercials. After all, whether these ads make us laugh, cry or tweet, they often have a way of weaving themselves into the Monday morning water cooler talk and even our cultural fabric. As a marketer myself who is responsible for maximizing an advertising budget, I watch these $5 million dollar, 30-second spots and have a tendency to ask myself: How effective are Super Bowl campaign ads? Given that the automotive industry is a staple within the Super Bowl advertising universe, we recently leveraged our Social Media Analysis to dig a bit deeper into a handful of auto brands (Audi, Buick, Hyundai, Jeep and Toyota), all of whom had a social media component to their Super Bowl 50 campaigns. We wanted to answer the question, “Did these TV ads actually drive social media following and engagement?” Our latest findings showed all five of these brands gained more “high influencer” and active followers on their social media channels within the month after the “Big Game.” On average, the percentage of influential followers (consumers with more than 1,000 followers) increased 14.8 percent during the month after the Super Bowl, while the average number of posts for each follower increased by 35.4 percent. Successful brand marketers create campaigns that work harmoniously together across different channels to reach their intended audience. These automotive brands were able to deliver messages across television that extended into social media channels ultimately driving the benefit of the “word-of-mouth” effect. Our data and analytics capabilities help marketers identify and connectd with audiences who will spread their messages to fans and potential customers. The result: these Super Bowl advertisers saw higher engagement and increased brand awareness. The automotive Super Bowl commerical enthusiast is … Developing a cross-channel campaign is only half the battle. Marketers still need to understand who is engaging with their brand after they’ve clicked the ‘Follow’ button. Our anlaysis revealed consumers who interacted with these automotive campaigns were 1.3 times more likely to be male, and nearly 60 percent fell between the ages of 26 and 50. Moreover, 13.3 percent had children between the ages of 16 and 18. Not surprisingly, these consumers were more likely to follow particular brand categories than the general population. 60 times more likely to follow Auto Brands 04 times more likely to follow Auto Service Providers 56 times more likely to follow Consumer Electronics Stores This tech-saavy, car enthusiast audience was also more likely to follow these types of social media handles than the average user. 10 times more likely to follow Sports Organizations 64 times more likely to follow Sports Media Companies 52 times more likely to follow Magazine Brands Other findings that popped in our recent analysis included: Consumers who engaged with these automotive brands on social media the month after the Super Bowl were 1.56 times more likely to reside in Michigan. More than 37 percent of these consumers had an average income between $50,000 and $99,999. The social media handles for the television shows these consumers were more likely to follow, included Top Gear, 60 Minutes and Baseball Tonight. Perhaps these programs would be great places for the auto brands to continue the conversation with current fans and potential customers. Marketers plan for the future Just as each consumer is unique, so is the trail of social media data they leave behind. Social media provides many consumers the venue to freely express their opinions and preferences. We help marketers tap into this data, and gain a remarkable view into who their customers are, the things they care about and how they behave. It’s that level of insight that enables marketers to optimize their content, plan better targeted campaigns in the future, and reach customers in a meaningful way. Much like any marketing effort, the current blue print to a successful Super Bowl campaign has been set. Create and deliver highly personalized messaging that resonates with consumers across a number of channels and encourages them to take an action, whether it’s purchase a product or share on social media. And finally, measure the results. It’s a lot easier to make that multi-million dollar advertising investment when you know the ROI is there. The brand marketers who follow the “game plan” can position themselves for their own Super Bowl win. To view the full press release, visit https://www.experianplc.com/media/news/2017/super-bowl-social-media/.
I’m an Experian Health Training Manager. I get to meet with healthcare organizations and teach them how to use our Financial Assistance Screening tool, which helps them easily and cost-effectively determine which patients qualify for financial assistance. I didn’t expect to interact directly with patients as part of my job, but I did – and the experience moved me. Recently, a client started using our automated tool, so I went to Colorado to train their financial counselors on how the product worked and help them understand the data so they could begin to use the tool with their patients. But then I was asked if I wanted to see the tool in action. Nothing could have prepared me for the experience of interacting directly with a patient who benefited from this tool – a woman who seemed visibly shaken when the financial counselor and I first met her in one of our client’s medical centers. After the financial counselor explained why we were there, she began to work her way down a list of questions prompted by Experian’s tool, asking about the patient’s annual income, household size and disabilities. After two minutes of questioning, the counselor hit “save” on the responses, and immediately the results came up on the screen. “Good news – you qualify for a 100 percent discount through our Medical Financial Assistance program,” the counselor said. “Your medications, stay and follow-up visits will all be covered.” The patient had trouble processing this information at first. “Are you telling me that now I can focus on getting better, and I don’t have to think about my medical bills?” This realization brought her to tears of relief. Her time in the waiting room had been plagued with thoughts of how she couldn’t afford her hospital stay, despite how much she needed medical attention. With our help, those thoughts were put to rest. With Experian’s tool, patients like this woman no longer need documents to prove their annual income. And healthcare providers don’t need to manually calculate whether and how they can provide financial support. After our meeting with this patient, the financial counselor told me she was so moved she was shaking. “It is inspiring to so tangibly be able to help our patients,” she said. I agree. I’m glad that through data, I’m helping healthcare organizations give patients financial peace of mind when they need it most. Read more #ExperianStories from our colleagues around the world.
I’m an Account Executive in Experian’s Consumer Information Services department. I’m also a millennial. So I know firsthand that millennials’ way of thinking — and spending — typically goes against the grain of traditional lending, especially given today’s focus on a sharing economy. Most millennials don’t have a traditional credit history to prove we can be trusted to pay back loans or lines of credit from lenders. Using data, I’m working to change that while also helping small businesses by enabling them to do business with my generation. At Experian, we look at alternative data sets — like paying rent and utilities — that show how a millennial is actually a low-risk candidate for credit, even if his or her credit score doesn’t reflect that. Through our data, we’re providing opportunities for people who wouldn’t ordinarily have access so they can buy their first house, get a car or start that business they’ve always dreamed about. I see my role as a bridge between millennials and an older generation, connecting young consumers with the resources experienced lenders can provide. A lot of my clients are small-business lenders with strict underwriting criteria. My lenders need to improve their underwriting to win lifelong customers, but they’re understandably afraid of risk. With pinpoint accuracy, we can help them identify their best opportunities using data, including information like rent payments, they may have overlooked. In my work, I get to take a hands-on approach of adapting to an emerging market and an ever-evolving technology landscape. I’m proud to be helping to create a new generation of customers for small businesses while giving my fellow millennials the financial access they need. Read more #ExperianStories from our colleagues around the world.