Fintech

In the wake of the Coronavirus Pandemic, thousands of companies were forced to go digital, transforming brick and mortar experiences to mobile-enabled, touchless digital experiences.  Whether you were a small grocery chain or a family restaurant getting plugged into a myriad of takeout ordering platforms, the choice was simple, upgrade to a fully digital experience or go extinct. When the $2.2 trillion CARES act passed in March of 2020, and with it the $350 billion Paycheck Protection Program, many banks had to work quickly to transform their SMB lending process to be more data-driven, risk-proof, scalable, and ready to deploy in a matter of weeks, rather than months. The Unqork no-code solution offers a flexible alternative. There’s a new breed of solutions that make it possible for banks to build robust, mission-critical applications without using a single line of code. Unqork is the leading no-code enterprise application development platform. With Unqork, you can manage no-code application development throughout the entire Software Development Lifecycle without having to implement traditional coding efforts, so you can move faster at a lower cost with fewer errors to future-proof your business. The Unqork platform makes it easy to power applications with Experian data using API’s. You can build powerful digital experiences without the scripting and coding you would normally expect. Curious? Watch our recent Business Chat interview with Unqork below. Digital Transformation with No-Code & API's | Business Chat Interview Transcription We interviewed Ben Smith, Head of Banking with Unqork and Carl Stronach, Senior Product Manager with Experian met during a recent Business Chat about No-Code for Enterprise Financial Services. What follows is a lightly edited transcription of their talk. [Gary]: Hello and welcome to Business Chat. So happy you could join us today. I'm Gary Stockton with Experian; I'm with Business Information Services here in North America.  We would love to know where you're joining us from. We're streaming here from Costa Mesa, California; we're live on LinkedIn and other channels via Restream. Be sure to drop us a comment and hashtag #teamlive if you're watching us live, hashtag #teamreplay, if you're catching this on the replay, and remember sharing, is caring. We would love it if you can share this chat. If you could let your colleagues know that we're talking about APIs and No-Code by sharing this live stream, that would help us expand our audience. So they were going to be talking about no-code technology and Experian API's with two great experts. Joining us from Unqork is Ben Smith. He's the head of banking, and from Experian is Carl Stronach. He's a Senior Product Manager here at Experian, and he works on API's. Welcome gentlemen. Ben, if you could take a moment, please tell us a bit about Unqork and your mission, where you're based, and how you got started. [Ben]: So we were founded in 2017 by Gary Hoberman. Gary was the CIO of MetLife, and Gary had a mission to redefine software development and focus on delivering software at the enterprise-grade faster with a lower total cost of ownership and something that could be delivered by a number of different people, not necessarily people who had a significant development talent and experience. So Gary set out in 2017 to redefine how we do it. We are a no-code platform. We are totally cloud-based and agnostic. We are deployed in over ten countries with over 70 different clients. And the other thing, part of the mission that we have here around the development is we've trained over 10,000 experts globally who can develop on the platform because we believe that the no-code environment allows for rapid adoption, and we want that adoption to be significant. [Ben]: So, what it says here is we have three major investors; we have a number of other ones. Obviously, BlackRock, Google, and Goldman Sachs are all major investors. And then, as I alluded to earlier, the mission of the firm is to develop enterprise-grade no-code solutions. So you can see at the bottom of this slide some of our major customers as well. [Gary]: Carl, could you share a little bit about your role here at Experian you've been at Experian quite a while, and how you work with companies like Unqork? [Carl]: So I've been with Experian for almost seven years, I'm focused on new product development. For the last four years, I have been focused on our APIs and bringing Experian business information into our global developer portal. In that time I've worked with a countless number of banks and FI's, and many of our clients across our verticals in their integration with Experian. In terms of how they are going to get our data in the most efficient way. I've supported a lot of them from the business side and the IT side and kind of sat in on both. And I've seen many of our clients really succeed with their integrations with us. That's just a direct integration to our rest API, and others, you know, take a long time. [Carl]: So I'm sensitive to the fact that coding to APIs as easy as we can try to make them with a rest API, and as easy as we can try to make them by adding SDKs or, or other supporting information on top, it's still difficult and time-consuming. A lot of the time to code to APIs certainly gets much more complex as we get into regulated data.  So it's definitely something that we want to narrow the timeline strategically.  How do we get access to data and query it faster than ever before?  Strategically it's something we're interested in and excited to be a part of, and working with providers like Unqork allows us to unlock some of those technologies. [Gary]: So Ben, what's the distinction between low-code and no-code, and what drives the adoption of no-code technology? [Ben]: The main difference is that everything that we develop on Unqork does not have any native code to it.  So for you, as a developer, it's a complete visual system. And the most important thing is there's no need to maintain the code once you've written it. So even in low code environments, there is, of course, the upkeep of the code, and ultimately it becomes legacy. Whereas in our system, all of our customers are on the same platform using the same environment, or sorry, using the same software to develop their solutions. And they're always up to date. That's a big difference, there's no need to develop that last bit, and there's no need to maintain it once it's out because as soon as you write a bit of code, you've got to maintain that code going forward. [Ben]: To the second point, how are people adopting it?  We see it adopted across a number of use cases. So, for exactly that reason. Many in my world as Head of Banks, many of our customers in the banking sector are looking for ways to develop both customer-facing as well as internal-facing software that digitizes their workflows, whether that be onboarding, operations. It just depends on the needs of that particular bank. But again, the rapid development, the ability to get to market faster and the ability to not have to maintain that codebase once it's up and running have been a really powerful part of our value statement. [Gary]: Carl, switching to data and API's. You work with a lot of clients in the banking industry. Can you tell me where in the customer life cycle does Experian API's fall? [Carl]: It's really across the lifecycle. From campaign targeting and finding new customers to underwriting and account acquisition and customer management, even collections. It's really across the full spectrum. To take a step back.  Everyone thinks of Experian as the consumer credit bureau. And, I am a very big fan of John Sina. So I think that's how Experian is generally known. But Experian's business goes well beyond just consumer credit. Obviously, we have business credit, and that's our focus here. But when it comes to our APIs, we bring everything together into a single global developer portal. So, what you can do through a single developer account is an interface with all Experian information, and we source data internally. So we've got our North America Business Information, Consumer Information, Automotive, Data, Quality, Decisioning, you name it, it's all available in one place. Also, we have an International focus too. So if you go there, you'll see API's from the UK, India, Singapore, all across the globe. We really try to be that shop for Experian data, making it much easier to code to us and eliminate those silos that used to exist in our own internal legacy systems. [Carl]: Now, I'm really excited by some of the things that Unqork can do. When we talk about setting up one workflow that can be shared many times and doesn't have to be re-coded over and over and over again, we see the same in working with our customers. When we work with our banking customers, a lot of them execute the same exact workflows to get to Experian data. Maybe the data they need is different. Maybe the data they find predictive is different, but it's really a lot of the same workflows. And so, as we work with Unqork we can define more of these workflows, make them predefined and hopefully just speed time to market. Really eliminate a lot of the burdens with a new integration or basically offer a new product and get it out. [Gary]: So you're finding that customers are applying these new technologies to get to market faster. I have to imagine that that was fairly active during COVID. A lot of people spinning up shopping carts and people that have brick-and-mortar stores had to innovate faster. And would you agree that platforms like Unqork are helping make that possible with API's? [Carl]: Absolutely, so that's even a part of what we're trying to do as well. As small businesses have had to transform due to COVID, they've had to adopt more digital experiences and maybe they had to. It's a restaurant and they had to change their storefront from having tables and chairs to having just a counter and offering delivery, opening up the restaurant to more kitchen space, to handle a greater number of orders coming in. I think we are also trying to capture new data assets that can tap into that business's digital transformation. So, we've done a lot to acquire more online data on businesses, more social media data on businesses, to tap into understanding what that business activity is. Are they open? Are they closed due to COVID? And so, as we start to adopt those new data sources, our clients also face the challenge of discovering them, integrating them into their services. [Gary]: Excellent. So, a two-part question for you Ben.  How are banks deploying no code and, and are there any security considerations when using a no-code platform? [Ben]: I think you know what we do here at Unqork for some of our customers, and what Unqork provides is the capability to both design a bank-specific user experience, but in a rapid way to deploy digitally. To solve problems that are rising quickly. PPP is a good example of that and other ones. Going forward, the ability to integrate with places like Experian on different data types such as social and some of the other ones that Carl spoke of. I think will be very important in terms of how banks redefine their small business and business offerings because post-COVID we're all going to be trying to figure out how to serve that segment in a way that makes sense from both a credit and a service point of view. [Gary]: Excellent. So, Carl what challenges are you seeing with lenders adopting and integrating bureau and non-traditional data? I mean, non-traditional is a hot space right now. [Carl]: Yeah. So, I think one of the challenges is just discovering the data and defining it, and being able to start working with it.  I think we experienced that, even internally, so there are just so many different data sources out there. How do you really prioritize what to go after? Having it available in a single place is really key.  If you had to continually define data and bring it into your database in order to work with it, it just becomes very challenging.  We need to find and adopt technologies that take that burden away from our customers. Gary, we can't expect every customer to define the data source. We need to do it for them and technologies like Unqork, give us the ability to do that. And so, I'm excited by that part. If we can lower the burden there, it can unleash data analysts and data scientists to really find out which data might be predictive.  So a lot of our customers want to find data that's going to be predictive of credit risk, predictive of delinquency. We need to find ways that allow them to really focus their time on finding the data, what data is actually going to be predictive. I don't want to spend all my time just defining the data just so I can test the top, a couple of fields that I have a hunch on. I want to go deeper and really find that marginal value. And technology is the key enabler that lets us do that. So go into the data. [Gary]: Thank you, Carl. So, Ben, based on what we just heard from Carl, can you share some examples of how SMB lenders can fast-track lending applications? [Ben]: Sure. We're working with banks around both customer onboarding and also around, the product development, into the origination cycle.  I think what Carl's saying is right. To the extent that we can discover this data and get it at a deeper level, get it into the risk modeling infrastructure,  through the integrations that we, as a platform can build, allows for more rapid adoption of alternative data sources. But also, better credit decisioning, you know, particularly as I sort of feel passionately about a post-COVID world and the need to take a different view as to how that credit risk moves or how credit risk is assessed. [Gary]: Well this has been very interesting guys. And folks, if you would like to learn more about no-code and how to fast track applications and integrate with Experian API's, Unqork is hosting a webinar March 24th at 12 Eastern. Experian is going to be participating in that, we're very excited to participate.  If you would like to register, you can just point your phone at the QR code or go to the link that we have there. We'll leave that in the description for this video, if you want to come back to this later. And, by all means, if you have any questions drop them in the comments. We'll be monitoring the comments in the next few days and replying to those. I want to thank both of you guys for taking time out today. I know you're both extremely busy, and looking forward to chatting with you again soon and looking forward to the webinar on the 24th. Watch Webinar Unqork + Experian: Smarter Small Business Lending  

As business delinquencies rise in response to COVID-19, credit departments are becoming increasingly challenged.  In our August 13th Sip and Solve webinar, John Krickus and Andrew Moore will be on hand to share some strategies for maximizing receivables amid rising delinquencies. Managing receivables has never been more important or more challenging. Traditional approaches may no longer apply. In this 15-minute Sip and Solve session, we discuss some solutions for effectively and efficiently handling the increase in receivables many companies are facing. After watching this talk you will learn three key takeaways: Prioritizing receivable management in today's environment Analytic tools for managing receivables Flexing receivables strategies to meet your company's priorities Click to view full slides and transcripts from this session.

In a favorable economic climate, business resilience is often treated as an afterthought. Success is measured in rapid growth and leaps of progress, while failure is little more than a tempering of that expansion. It’s only when things slow down - like during a global pandemic - that companies are forced to take stock of the ground they stand on. As the economy slows to a crawl and entire industries feel the squeeze, business resilience will determine which organizations make it through to the other side. Whether you’re on the supply side or the demand side, chances are your organization is being tested right now. Here are some practical strategies to stay resilient in the time of Covid-19. Gerard Smith, President of Global Risk Management Solutions (GRMS), works with companies who are either on-boarding new suppliers or evaluating current suppliers. When the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted supply chains in most industries, many of these companies started scrambling to find replacement suppliers. Finding a reliable supplier is always a challenge, but it’s even more difficult during a global pandemic and economic crisis.     The best practice here is still to vet new suppliers carefully. Smith’s company creates a risk assessment program for Experian clients that analyzes 50 different financial and legal components, including the following: If they’re on the OFAC sanctions list If they’re financially stable If they actually have the certifications they claim to have If they have insurance If they’ve received negative press Many companies fail to do their due diligence when it comes to suppliers, especially if they’re trying to fulfill orders quickly. More often than not, this leads to bigger problems down the line. If you hire a supplier that’s hemorrhaging money, for instance, they may file for bankruptcy right after you pay them for a major shipment. Companies that use GRMS will be notified regularly if a supplier’s financial or legal status changes. If a supplier cancels their insurance coverage, for example, that could indicate financial struggles. Staying abreast of information like this allows businesses to be proactive with suppliers and avoid being blindsided. Make Sure Clients Are Financially Healthy On the flip side of the buyer-supplier relationship, suppliers are now being asked to extend due dates. Deciding how to comply with these requests can be tricky. Most want to be understanding and reasonable, but there is often legitimate concern over whether they’ll receive payment. Brodie Oldham, Senior Director of Analytic Consultancy for Experian, said Experian offers several services for suppliers who need to gauge how reliable their customers are in this moment. Experian has a special Covid-19 risk index that suppliers can overlay on top of existing credit models. This tool can help determine whether or not a client is in an unstable financial position. If the company operates in a highly impacted part of the country or industry, the supplier can use that information to change the terms. For example, they can sell fewer items to minimize the risk of an unpaid invoice. Experian also monitors credit utilization for business credit cards and other lines of credit. If a company’s credit utilization surpasses a certain threshold, they can alert the supplier who can halt future shipments until the utilization decreases. Find Faster Ways to Evaluate Creditworthiness Many suppliers depend on a company’s credit information to determine its reliability as a buyer. Likewise, credit bureaus are being forced to reevaluate their models in response to the changing business landscape brought on by Covid-19. Enter the agile credit function. The term agile has traditionally been used in the context of software development to describe an iterative approach where requirements and solutions evolve through collaboration between cross-functional teams. It allows companies to adapt to new requests quickly and improve time-to-market. Agile is all about being nimble and responsive - something credit bureaus are prioritizing in today’s uncertain economy.   Agile credit means finding new, faster ways of evaluating customers and determining their ability to pay, in a time when that information can change daily. “When everything shut down in March, credit people got thrown for a loop,” said Dan Meder, Vice President of Consulting, Product Marketing and Alliances for Experian Business Information Services. “They needed a way to manage that change very quickly.” That’s where having an agile credit approach comes in. “It’s about using agile principles in your credit function to respond more quickly to changing market needs,” Meder said. Using an agile credit system helps suppliers decide what kind of terms to offer their customers. Many companies are asking suppliers to extend their terms and due dates, often switching from net-30 to net-60. Suppliers then have to decide if they can trust these companies to repay them within that longer time frame, Meder said. If companies in this position use an agile credit function, they can be more responsive and confident in the terms they set out because they’re basing their credit policies on the current state of their customer environment. This requires operating with the latest possible information on how current economic conditions are affecting their customers. Meder said that making credit function more agile requires direction from the head of the credit department and other members of that department. They can also utilize software programmers if the automatic process needs to be updated or any outside consultants for specific analytical expertise. “The idea is to bring together a team of people with direct involvement in managing the credit function to assess how best to manage the customer experience given the current state of the customer environment,” he said. “This includes setting policies around risk assessment as well as credit terms and collection processes.” Meder said companies should have technology that allows them to tinker with their credit function so they can make changes quickly. “This is especially true in a fast-changing or uncertain environment such as what we are seeing with COVID-19 and the uncertain effect it is having on our economy’s future,” he said. “In fact, it is turbulent times such as these where being “agile” is most important since the credit department needs to be able to alter course quickly if the customer environment changes for better or for worse.” Consider Being Flexible With Clients While delayed payments from clients is upsetting, avoid taking your current client relationships for granted. While a more stringent approach from suppliers is understandable right now, Meder cautions companies to remember that the pandemic will end at some point. At that time, companies will remember which suppliers were flexible about payments, due dates and terms - and which companies weren’t. “If you weren’t good to them while they were struggling, they’re going to forget about you when things turn around,” Meder said. To find out how fine-tuning your company’s credit function can help it weather the current economic crisis, reach out to your Experian representative.

Experian and Moody’s Analytics have just released the Q1 2019 Main Street Report. The report brings deep insight into the overall financial well-being of the small-business landscape, as well as providing commentary on what certain trends mean for lenders and small businesses. In Q1 U.S. small businesses brushed off a government shutdown as stock markets recovered and income gains remained steady. Delinquency rates remained mostly stable, with pockets of weakness spread out among regions and industries, notably agriculture in the Great Lakes and manufacturing in the Southwest. Small firms seem to have simply shrugged off the headwinds of the first quarter and kept on with business as usual. Despite a fresh escalation in trade tensions,  the year is starting off well with positive news coming from the areas presenting risks to the outlook. A dovish stance on interest rates from the Federal Reserve and room to grow in our housing market — 2019 is off to a strong start. Watch Webinar Recording -  Q1 2019 Quarterly Business Credit Review Listen to the experts from Experian and Moody's Analytics go in-depth on insights revealed in the Q1 2019 Experian/Moody's Analytics Main Street Report.  

As a Senior Consultant with Experian Advisory Services, Gavin Harding works closely with many of Experian's FinTech and Financial Institution clients to find solutions to complex problems. We sat down recently to talk about bank partnerships, how they come about, what makes them successful, and how Experian supports them. Do you see a lot of collaboration between banks and FinTechs? The latest statistics show that 67 percent of banks and FinTech’s are either currently cooperating, or in discussions about cooperating, or exploring collaboration. So, yes a very significant proportion are considering collaborations. Why collaborate at all? You know it's interesting, they have different skill sets, different assets, different backgrounds. So for example; banks have really deep, broad customer relationships. You know think about your Mom or Dad bringing you to your local bank to open up your first account. Think about your student loan. Think about your mortgage. What kinds of relationships exist? So banks have really deep and broad relationships. But traditionally the experience with banks has not necessarily been great in terms of turnaround, in terms of the friction or pain involved in getting a loan or opening an account. On the other side, FinTech’s are really good at that customer experience. They describe it as either low or no friction. So very quick turnaround times. But they're very much transactional-focused, meaning single products. So FinTech has the technology and the experience, and banks have the depth of relationships with customers. You bring those two parts together and you've got a pretty amazing potential opportunity.  There are as many relationship types shapes and sizes as there are people on the planet. Everything from cooperation on basic operations, meaning, a FinTech takes applications for a bank and then passes them on. All the way over to full-fledged integration of systems, personnel, capabilities, skill sets, and so on. So pretty much the broad spectrum. What works well? So it works really well when they are well-matched. So what I mean by that is, when the skill sets from one organization match the other. When one enhances the other, and it works really well when there are long and detailed discussions and preparations for the relationship. Meaning, they align and discuss goals, objectives, what each organization's role is, what each brings to the table, and very specifically how they are going to cooperate. What are the pitfalls? Well, the same pitfalls. So the pitfalls are that the relationship goals differ, or aren't aligned, or that one organization feels like they are bringing more to the relationship and that the partnership is equal, or when it feels as if each partner, each organization is not getting value from the relationship over time, and once again that reinforces the need for those detailed discussions before getting into that partnership or relationship. How does the process work? So it begins with a discussion. I've seen these partnerships start with a discussion over dinner at a conference. I've seen them start through a LinkedIn connection. I've seen them start over coffee. So it really starts with an exploration of who's out there? What organizations may be interested in even discussing some kind of collaboration? So it starts with the conversation at the very basic level, even when we see in the Wall Street Journal major strategic alliances between organizations, starts with people, and starts with that very simple conversation and connection. What are some key elements to be aware of? Well again it comes down to what each party brings to the relationship and what the goals are. So a good alignment of the capacity of skill sets, an alignment of investment in terms of time and resources, and very specifically a definition of who does what, what the accountabilities are, and what everybody's expectations are. They are fundamental to the success of any type of business arrangement or partnership. How does Experian support these partnerships? So the interesting thing is we have very deep relationships with both sides. So we bring data, solutions, consulting expertise to FinTech’s and to banks. So, it's really interesting we find ourselves in the middle of a lot of these conversations, and how we help is by understanding systems, technology, data, the best of both organizations involved in the conversations, and how to bring all of that together for a good focused efficient successful outcome. A couple of years ago this was new meaning that banks saw FinTech’s growing, and kind of looked at them a little bit maybe as competition, as potentially the enemy, FinTech’s saw themselves as disrupting the world and completely innovative and new. What's starting to happen is both sides are coming together, realizing that they are both part of the same financial industry, serving the same customers, maybe in different or new ways with different products. But in the same industry. So there is very much a coming together, an alignment a co-mingling, consolidation of all these various aspects of the industry. And I think it's really positive for consumers. More products, more quickly, and a better experience overall. Do you think a FinTech's ability to create more dynamic mobile experiences is a key element Certainly and so the big question we help banks answer in this space is, do we build it? Do we buy it? Do we partner? and build and buy or partner refers to the technology the infrastructure and the experience. So if you have a pretty big bank and they've got a old website, old process, lots of paper, lots of regulations, lots of pain in the process. Well they can look at one of the more advanced sophisticated mature FinTech’s and essentially use their platform, their engagement, their data, connect that to the bank's customers and in a very very short time transform that experience in a very positive way for their banking customers.   Learn about FinTech Lending Solutions

For lenders, alternative data can be the factor in edging out your competitors, especially when better decisions are needed to compete for emerging businesses and startups. Both startups and emerging businesses may represent a good growth opportunity, but they may also be high risk. The challenge? Businesses with thin credit profiles can be difficult to score. Social Media Insight TM provides lenders with another layer of data that can help you better assess the direction of these businesses, score them more accurately and open new growth opportunities. After all, nobody likes to leave money on the table. For emerging businesses who have a thin credit profile but have a strong social media reputation, Social Media Insight can be a factor in gaining access to credit and resources they deserve. Social Media Insight enables you to see the activity, trends and sentiment on a business, over time. In our Experian DataLab tests, we improved overall model performance by 12 percent and new and emerging businesses by 91 percent, boosting predictive performance over traditional data sets. Social Media Insight is directly sourced data providing you with over 70 attributes including trends and sentiment along with descriptive attributes. This powerful data enables you to more accurately score or assess new and emerging business as well as long established accounts. Want to learn more? Watch our on-demand webinar or contact your Experian representative today.    

  Scottsdale, Ariz., May 22, 2018 — Experian®, at its 37th annual Vision Conference, today announced it has become a certified vendor of the Small Business Financial Exchange, Inc. (SBFE), a nonprofit trade association that gathers and aggregates small-business payment data in the United States to help organizations build a complete picture of small business. “We’re excited to work with SBFE, which shares our mission to bring further innovation to the small-business credit landscape,” said Hiq Lee, president, Experian Business Information Services. “By combining the SBFE’s data richness with Experian’s vast consumer and commercial data assets and leading data science capabilities, we will use the power of data to help our clients make the right decisions.” As a SBFE Certified Vendor, Experian can combine its rich data — including traditional and alternative business data and consumer data on business owners — with SBFE’s data to provide the most comprehensive view of a small business in the market today. For example, financial institutions looking for broad and deep insights on small and emerging businesses will be able to find that information in a way no one has offered previously. Also for the first time, Experian clients that are nonfinancial institutions, such as e-commerce, communications, insurers, and software and hardware vendors, can qualify to access this financial data to help them make confident credit decisions by gaining deep visibility into a small business’s capital use and credit history through Experian. “Experian becoming an SBFE Certified Vendor makes perfect sense in support of our ongoing mission to serve our Members and the small-business community,” said Carolyn Hardin-Levine, CEO, SBFE. “Experian demonstrated its ability to meet SBFE’s high data security and governance requirements, controls, and independent oversight requirements. Additionally, Experian’s ability to deliver blended solutions combined with SBFE data will provide our Members with more options and drive innovation as part of SBFE’s single-feed, multicertified vendor model.” New product pipeline Experian fosters a culture of continuous innovation, from the way it works to the solutions it creates. The company plans to deploy its data scientists to apply leading-edge techniques, including machine learning and artificial intelligence, to discover and provide predictive insights and analytical tools to support better decisioning for its clients. It is anticipated that the work of its data scientists on the combined data sets will result in new product launches over the next 24 months. Vision Conference Each year, Vision combines in-depth research, cutting-edge technology and expertise from industry leaders to help Experian’s clients strengthen their balance sheets and plan for sustained growth. The 2018 conference sold out and runs May 20–23 in Scottsdale, Ariz. Contact: Jackie Brenne Experian Public Relations 1 714 830 5126 Jackie.Brenne@experian.com About Experian Experian is the world’s leading global information services company. During life’s big moments – from buying a home or a car, to sending a child to college, to growing a business by connecting with new customers – we empower consumers and our clients to manage their data with confidence. We help individuals to take financial control and access financial services, businesses to make smarter decisions and thrive, lenders to lend more responsibly, and organisations to prevent identity fraud and crime. We have 16,500 people operating across 39 countries and every day we’re investing in new technologies, talented people and innovation to help all our clients maximise every opportunity. We are listed on the London Stock Exchange (EXPN) and are a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. Learn more at www.experianplc.com or visit our global content hub at our global news blog for the latest news and insights from the Group. About SBFE The Small Business Financial Exchange, Inc., and SBFE, LLC (collectively known as SBFE) is the country’s leading source of small-business credit information. Established in 2001, this nonprofit association’s database houses information on more than 32 million businesses and enables information exchange among members who provide small-business financing. Through its resources and relationships, SBFE makes possible innovative risk management solutions by providing industry insight and analysis of aggregated small-business financial data to its Members. SBFE is the only Member-controlled organization of its type and is serving as the most trusted advocate for the safe and secure growth of small business. For more information, visit www.sbfe.org.

Today Experian Business Information Services releases the Experian/Moody's Analytics Main Street Report for Q1 2018. The report brings deep insight into the overall financial well-being of the small-business landscape, as well as providing commentary around what certain trends mean for credit grantors and the small-business community. Q1 2018 saw credit conditions loosening and balances rising as more businesses access credit. The report states the overall outlook for small-business credit is positive. Delinquencies were down and default rates rose slightly, suggesting that credit conditions have peaked as the economy is in a late-cycle expansion. Continuing strength in the macroeconomy will keep small-business credit moving in the near term, along with higher profits from the recently passed tax legislation. Small-business credit will be less certain in the medium to long term as rising wages, interest rates and changes to the tax code take a toll. Download the latest report  

Pew Research Center has stated that the Millennials are projected to be the largest generation by 2050. So with this in mind Experian examined the business credit trends of Millennial business owners to see how their behaviors might impact small business. The results of that research has been published in a new whitepaper titled "Millennial-owned small business — a fast growing segment." Andrea Schmalzer is the analyst who worked on the study and we asked her a few questions about the research in our latest Business Q&A.   Gary Stockton: Can you tell us a little about the data set you analyzed for your study? Andrea Schmalzer: In this study what we did was we looked at small businesses during the year 2012 2015 and 2017. We then segmented the data by generation for millennials. We looked at anybody born between 1981 and the year 2000. Andrea Schmalzer: There are various ranges for defining millennials. However this is definitely within the standard range of the definition. Gary Stockton: In terms of small business. How large is the millennial segment today? Andrea Schmalzer: So the millennial segment is actually still a smaller segment of the business community at about 7 percent. But they are growing quite rapidly. Since 2012 they've grown about 92 percent in small businesses. Whereas if you look at the baby boomers they've only grown by 11 percent. So there's definitely substantial growth happening within the millennial-owned business area. Gary Stockton: What are the industries that millennials are most concentrated in? Andrea Schmalzer: So the millennials are concentrated in basically the same industries as all other generations.We do see about 44 percent of all small businesses owned by millennials in the services industries. So that can be anything from a nail salon to a medical doctor. We then have about 18 percent in retail trade. So that's any goods that you're going to be buying for personal use, and then about 12 percent are focused in on construction industries. Gary Stockton: Do millennials represent an opportunity for lenders? and if so, how? Andrea Schmalzer: Absolutely. What we're seeing is a really strong decreasing trend in delinquency rate for millennials? So back in 2012 we were seeing about 18 percent delinquency rates. Currently in 2017, what we're seeing is about 9 percent which is totally in line with all other generations? We're also noticing their business credit scores improving year over year. As well as their longevity. So by year 5 their business survival rate is stronger than any other generation. At this point it looks like the millennials are starting to figure out the way that businesses work, and how to use credit wisely. So there's definitely room for lenders to appeal to this segment. Download Report