Margin test

Experian has warned that current accounts can be a ‘front door for fraudsters’, as the company’s new ID Fraud Tracker reveals current account fraud is now nearly triple what it was two years ago, while credit card fraud has more than doubled within the same period. In both cases, the increase has been driven by fraudsters using stolen personal details of genuine individuals to attempt to open current accounts or apply for credit cards. Nick Mothershaw, fraud expert from Experian, explained:“A lot of people may see the news about current account fraud and think that it’s not as bad as having their card details stolen. But it is…in fact it could be an Achilles’ heel when it comes to their identity. Current account fraud not only presents an immediate threat of emptying someone’s overdraft facilities, but can act as a front door for fraudsters to access a wide range of financial products, including credit cards. “Current accounts and cards are tightly linked, and it’s no surprise that card fraud has grown alongside the rise in current account fraud. We urge people to be vigilant about activity on their account. “We all have a role to play in keeping our identities safe, and we’re encouraging everybody to do their bit. Even something as simple as making sure you regularly check your electronic statements can help to identify fraudulent activity before it escalates into something much worse.” More misery for ‘generation rent’ Private renters who live in shared accommodation in young urban neighbourhoods, aged 26 to 35 (known as ‘Rental Hubs’), continue to be the biggest targets for fraudsters – 18.4 per cent of all victims. However, fraudsters are particularly increasing their focus on those ‘transient renters’, mainly 18 to 25 years old, who tend to share private low-cost housing and are most likely to move more regularly. They saw the biggest rise in fraud over the last 12 months and now account for 7.1% of all fraud victims, compared to 4.9 per cent last year. Mothershaw said:“People who live in rented homes need to know that fraud is a very real and, sadly, growing danger for them in particular. What makes them easy targets for fraudsters is the fact that many share accommodation and also move regularly – within one or two years. Unless they are regularly monitoring all their credit applications, it is likely to be a while before they realise they have become victims. They are also high users of smart phones and social media, so they really are prime targets.” Experian’s new ID Fraud Tracker is a quarterly analysis of fraud rates across a variety of consumer financial products, from cards and current accounts to mortgages and car insurance. Current account fraud between April and June this year reached 128 fraudulent applications in every 10,000 applications – the fifth consecutive quarter it has exceeded 100 in every 10,000 applications. The rate of fraud in card applications reached 48 in every 10,000 applications during the same period. The analysis dates back to Q3 2013, when rates of current account and card fraud were at 48 and 21 in every 10,000 applications respectively. Experian offers some proactive steps people can take against fraud: Online passwords: There’s nothing more attractive for ID thieves than someone who uses the same password across multiple online accounts. It is crucial to have unique, secure passwords for each online account. People should consider the strength of their password; always use a combination of upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols and – where possible – change them regularly. Security First: Be conscious of the information you share when using shared Wi-Fi networks. Public networks and open Wi-Fi hotspots can be compromised more easily by fraudsters than secure networks. Be cautious of the information you share on your social profiles such as your email address, date of birth and all other personal information that could be easily traced. Passcode protect: A lot of personal information is stored on devices that are not password protected. That’s emails, apps, messages – a vast amount of information that could be a goldmine for fraudsters if the device is lost or stolen. People should always lock their mobile device, whether it is with a passcode or a gesture, to prevent access to such information, should the worse happen. Check the post: Whilst e-banking is becoming increasingly popular, receiving unexpected, irrelevant mail, could be a warning sign of ID fraud – particularly mail that is outside of the usual purchasing sphere. Shred and destroy any documents that contain sensitive, personal details. And if you move house, make sure you re-direct your post and register to vote at your new address. Be credit wise: Being credit smart and checking your credit report to see if credit has been applied for under false pretenses, you can get a better handle on whether personal information has fallen into the wrong hands. Web monitoring tools are also useful as they scour the web for stolen details – sending people an instant notification if their information appears somewhere new online.

  Experian has been named to Forbes Magazine’s list of the “World’s Most Innovative Companies,” securing a spot in the Top 100 list for the third year in a row. We are proud to put innovation at the forefront of what we do – driving our activations and analytics to serve our customers and secure a better, more productive future. This recognition helps affirm our goal in innovating ways to embrace data to help transform the way businesses operate and how consumers can thrive in today’s society.  We are proud to foster a culture of such innovation, including some recent milestones. These include the introduction of CrossCore, the fraud and identity industry’s first open platform designed to catch fraud faster, and Experian Marketing Services’ Audience Engine, which is enhancing the customer experience and audience management platform that changes the way the advertising industry buys and measures media. Meanwhile our DataLabs continues to achieve recognition for their tremendous work tackling the thorniest problems and finding new ways to glean insights from data. The amount of data is expected to increase up to ten times the current amount by 2020, and Experian looks to innovation to bring answers to the problems such increases can pose. We’re finding new ways to help business across a multitude of industries integrate the latest in data technology into nearly every aspect of their operations. Data is powering everything we do. We’re leveraging data to allow lenders to make responsible decisions involving their customers, helping more consumers gain access to wealth-building tools like mortgages. At Experian, we believe that data will power the future in untold ways. We know that we’ve only scratched the surface of data’s potential. It’s an honor to achieve this recognition, and I am confident that Experian will continue to chart the course for the industry with solutions that power opportunities for more people and businesses through data.    

With only a few more weeks until summertime officially comes to a close, marketers need to quickly begin planning for one of their busiest times of the year. The holidays. New research from Experian Marketing Services pinpoints five strategies that brands should consider incorporating into their holiday campaigns to boost performance. According to the Q2 2016 Email Benchmark Report, marketers need to consider the quality of subscriber data obtained during acquisition, social media, creative content, email personalization and a retention strategy. For a complimentary download of the report, click here. To view the full press release, visit https://www.experianplc.com/media/news/2016/q2-2016-email-benchmark-report/

This feature article from the Harvard Business Review discusses how Experian is as nimble as a start-up. According to the article, most companies try to avoid problems. “Experian actually goes looking for them. In fact, it has set up a specific unit – Experian DataLabs — to actively seek out unresolved problems its customers are having and use them as a launchpad to seek out new opportunities and create new products.”

  The following article originally appeared in the Career Advancement Management Report, Volume 38: Companies are collecting mountains of digital information that they are using to create more effective marketing campaigns, improve manufacturing and order fulfillment departments, develop products, improve quality control and assurance, and otherwise better operate their businesses and serve their customers. This information ranges from in-house data and reports, to customer tweets and blog postings, to customer activity at Web sites. Data scientists assess the information, and then explain to company executives how it can be used to make better business decisions, reach more customers, or provide better services. The Wall Street Journal reports that "top data scientists can command multiple job offers with salaries well into the six figures and sometimes even seven figures." Eric Haller is the Executive Vice President of ExperianDataLabs. Experian helps businesses manage credit risk, prevent fraud, target marketing offers, and automate decision making. It also helps people to check their credit report and credit score and protect against identity theft. In 2015, Experian was named by Forbes as one of the “World’s Most Innovative Companies.” Haller discussed the fast-growing career of data scientist with the editors of the CAM Report. Q. How did the career of data scientist develop? A. The role of the data scientist emerged as a result of the vast amount of data companies are acquiring. The problem: most of this data is jumbled, indistinct information. How, then, can a company use this for its own benefit? It was obvious there needed to be someone companies could rely on to take this data, build connections and correlations, and assemble insights useful for the growth of the company.The result: the rise of data scientists. Q.What makes the career of data scientist such a hot profession? What will aspiring data scientists find fun or interesting about this career? A. Individuals in this profession are innate explorers.They are always reinventing the wheel; coming up with new approaches to old challenges; finding solutions to vexing problems. And they do so by listening to hard data. Couple this with their analytical background and one can see what makes data scientists so attractive to the business world. Data scientists are the wizards making seemingly unattainable ideas and goals a possibility for companies—companies that need risk assessments; companies that strive to better optimize their marketing towards key consumers; companies that could use improvements to their digital consumer user experience. The realm of possibilities is seemingly endless for data science. Take for example these ongoing ventures. At the world-renowned Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore physicians are perfecting cancer treatments using successful plans of past patients. In Kansas City researchers are maximizing the productivity of area lands by studying detailed soil data. And in Indiana the state government is analyzing population data to prioritize funding for the most effective programs, including those that reduce infant mortality rates. Across the nation examples like these abound. The common thread? Big data—or the accumulation of data too large and complex for processing by traditional database management tools. In each instance, data scientists are helping to solve some of our most vexing public, societal, and corporate problems. Every day, from every corner of the world, Experian is working to attract this talent and utilize them to help a host of companies, from financial institutions to healthcare organizations, make strategic decisions towards sustainable growth. No matter the project or task, data scientists are constantly examining problems and discovering solutions that are good for businesses, consumers, and society. Q.What are the key traits of successful data scientists? A. Perhaps the most important skill necessary to succeed as a data scientist is effective communication and advocacy for a position. Data science is a brainy, technical field. While scientists working in the field understand the complexity of the information they study, it is highly unlikely that their client does. Data scientists must therefore be able to think and communicate like business people—to bring the conversation down to a level anyone can understand. It is the only way they are able to successfully deliver and implement their findings. Q.What’s the best way to prepare for this career? A. Take a free online class – Free online courses from top universities or top subject-matter experts are available via sites such as Coursera, Udacity, and edX. Practice – You can download a public dataset from Kaggle,which hosts open data science competitions. (Competitors are given a data analysis problem to solve and there are cash prizes for winners.) Join a LinkedIn group – Join groups associated with data science on topics such as big data, analytics, machine learning, and data management. Get to know working data scientists – Use these groups and educational opportunities to look for opportunities to network with people working in data science, either in person or remotely if you aren’t in the same location. Q.What's the future employment outlook for data scientists? A. The need for data scientists will only continue to grow in the future. A report came out a couple years ago that estimated by 2020 the amount of data globally will grow ten-fold from today. That’s a tremendous amount of data. Raw data. Untapped potential.  This alone puts the importance of data science as a profession into perspective. Data scientists are the pioneers going “where no man has gone before” for the good of our future.