Experian Innovation Lab Celebrates 15 Years of Transforming Industries

We’re starting the year strong by reaffirming our promise to empower consumers on their financial journeys. At Experian, everything we do is driven by our mission to bring Financial Power to All™—helping people not only understand where they stand but confidently move forward. That’s why I’m pleased to introduce the new high-yield Experian Smart Money™ Digital Savings Account[1], designed to make saving effortless, accessible, and more meaningful than ever before. This new offering is more than just a savings account—it represents an important evolution in how Experian supports financial progress. For years, we’ve helped tens of millions of consumers monitor their credit, improve their credit scores, and protect their identities. Now, by adding a high-yield digital savings account to our existing suite of financial health tools, we’re able to anchor that progress to something tangible: real balances and real momentum. With the ability to save built directly into the Experian ecosystem, members can track their savings growth alongside credit improvements, creating a clearer picture of their overall financial health. Positive financial behaviors—like paying down debt, making on-time payments, or improving utilization—can now be experienced in parallel with cash accumulation and stronger financial resilience, all in one trusted place. The Experian Smart Money™ Digital Savings Account offers up to 4.00% variable Annual Percentage Yield[2] (APY), which is nearly 10 times the national average savings rate[3], with no minimum balance or direct deposit requirement. It’s seamlessly integrated into the Experian membership experience, making it easier for consumers to take action the moment insight appears. This launch builds on the success of our Experian Smart Money™ Digital Checking Account & Debit Card introduced in 2023 and reflects our continued commitment to creating products that meet consumers wherever they are on their financial journey. We believe saving is a foundational financial behavior—and one that plays a powerful, often underappreciated role in credit outcomes. Strong credit health isn’t just about borrowing; it’s closely tied to liquidity, cash flow stability, and financial resilience. Having accessible savings can help consumers stay current on bills during income disruptions, build buffers that reduce reliance on higher-cost credit, and create flexibility that can support long-term credit improvement. In this way, a high-yield digital savings account becomes more than a place to store money—it becomes a practical tool for building healthier financial habits. Whether it’s emergency savings, goal-based saving, or smoothing cash flow, an Experian Smart Money Digital Savings Account enables consumers to turn good intentions into consistent action. This launch also reflects our broader evolution beyond a traditional credit bureau. Today, Experian membership provides access to credit monitoring and improvement tools, identity protection, a credit card marketplace, auto insurance comparison shopping, and personalized guidance through our AI-powered virtual assistant, EVA. Adding a high-yield digital savings account allows us to take the next step with our members—bridging the gap between insight and action. Instead of stopping at “here’s where you stand,” Experian can now help consumers actively build positive financial momentum. We’re extending our role as consumers’ BFF—Big Financial Friend—by making it easier to save, plan, and grow within the same ecosystem they already trust. By innovating and delivering products that truly make a difference in people’s everyday financial lives, we’re continuing to advance our mission and help consumers turn knowledge into progress. Learn more at experian.com/smartmoney. [1] The Experian Smart Money™ Debit Card is issued by Community Federal Savings Bank (CFSB), pursuant to a license from Mastercard International. Banking services provided by CFSB, Member FDIC. Experian is a Program Manager, not a bank.  See Experian.com/legal. [2] The Annual Percentage Yield (APY) is 2.00%, 3.00% or 4.00% as of today’s date based on the Experian membership status. The APY may change at any time before or after your account is opened. Changes to the Experian membership can impact the APY, interest rate, and features. The interest rate and APY may be lower during membership trial periods. No minimum deposit to open account. Balance must be at least $0.01 to earn APY. Learn more. [3] As of Dec. 15, 2025, the national average rate for savings accounts was 0.39%, according to the FDIC.

As the AI-enabled speed of data analytics and model development continues to accelerate across financial services, financial institutions face a growing challenge: keeping regulatory documentation aligned with rapid model innovation. Experian Assistant for Model Risk Management was built to address this challenge, and we’re proud it has been named a 2026 BIG Innovation Award winner in the Innovative Products category. The BIG Innovation Awards recognize organizations that deliver exceptional innovation and measurable value to customers and stakeholders. This recognition underscores the impact our AI-powered solution is having in helping financial institutions modernize model risk management in today’s AI-driven environment. Accelerating model validation and reducing regulatory risk Fully integrated into the Experian Ascend Platform™ and powered by ValidMind technology, Experian Assistant for Model Risk Management helps accelerate model validation, improve auditability and reduce regulatory risk. By offering standardized templates, centralized documentation and streamlined workflow approvals, the solution supports regulatory alignment while enabling faster, more consistent model development. As AI-driven models evolve at unprecedented speed, regulatory expectations continue to require thorough, explainable and auditable documentation. Experian Assistant for Model Risk Management addresses this labor- and resource-intensive requirement through end-to-end model documentation automation, helping institutions maintain accountability without slowing innovation. Addressing a growing industry challenge According to a 2025 Experian study of more than 500 global financial institutions, 67% struggle to meet regulatory requirements, 79% report more frequent supervisory communications, and 60% still rely entirely on manual compliance processes. More than 70% of larger institutions say model documentation compliance involves over 50 people. Experian Assistant for Model Risk Management helps solve this challenge by modernizing model documentation and governance practices across the credit and risk lifecycle. The 2026 BIG Innovation Award reinforces Experian’s role as a trusted partner, helping financial institutions confidently adopt AI while improving transparency, auditability and regulatory alignment. Learn more about Experian Assistant for Model Risk Management here.  

Chief Innovation Officer, Kathleen Peters recently spoke on an “AI at Velocity: Securing the Agentic Enterprise” panel at Fortune Brainstorm AI, exploring strategies for designing, deploying, and securing agents to ensure observability and control from day one.  The panel covered a core theme that underscores how to accelerate enterprise adoption of AI agents: promoting trust. The discussion explored different dimensions of trust in AI agents, all of which speak to strengths of Experian. First, Kathleen cited the critical need to know the intent behind an agent, verifying whether it is acting on behalf of a human, another agent, or a bad actor. Also, understanding the permissions that the agent has been given is very important. Here, Experian’s identify protection and fraud prevention solutions play a key role.   Second, trust is built through policy guardrails that enterprises put in place that provide a framework for its network operations across the governance, orchestration, and execution layers. Ensuring proper security of agentic processes becomes the top priority for businesses and consumers who engage with the enterprise. This security is especially important in highly regulated industries, such as financial services and healthcare.  These policy guardrails will serve two purposes: differentiate a brand’s customer experience and eventually become the foundation for industry-wide regulatory standards. These guardrails need to be enforced by a policy engine that should have the capability to remediate or reverse the action of an AI agent if its actions violate any policy.  Experian Ascend Platform’s feature set includes this kind of governance and orchestration of agentic-AI processes to ensure the highest standards of data privacy and protection, and keep our customers safe and secure.  The panel closed with a look-ahead to 2026 and beyond. Kathleen emphasized that agents will quickly move beyond automation of human tasks into new areas where they will “talk” to each other and even spawn new agents. In this fast-evolving landscape, building trust through enterprise policy and proper orchestration and governance of AI agents will separate the market winners from the rest.  Watch the virtual event here.