Social Responsibility

The largest Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the U.S., UnidosUS, held its LatinX IncluXion Summit this week and I had the pleasure of participating as a featured speaker. One of the conference’s themes this year was “Reimagining our Future” and that resonated with me quite a bit. As an immigrant who has had to reimagine my life and career many times over, I shared some advice on how we can reinvent ourselves, become empowered by those opportunities and give back to our communities. Experian’s support of UnidosUS is especially meaningful to me. As co-executive sponsor of Juntos, our Hispanic and Latino employee resource group, I’m proud to be part of our partnership launch that extends beyond the conference. As part of our United for Financial Health initiative, Experian is supporting the organization’s Financial Empowerment Network (FEN) which provides free, financial coaching for Latino families. I have always been passionate about financial inclusion because I believe it helps empower people to be independent and take care of their families. This is especially true for immigrant communities that already must deal with the challenges of acclimating to a new country, culture, language, and more. Since joining Experian, I have been involved in initiatives that look to expand access for disenfranchised consumers, and a huge portion of my volunteerism has been devoted to educating this community about the benefits of intentionally managing their budgets and what are the best ways to gain access and handle credit. It’s not just UnidosUS affiliates and members who will benefit from our cross-cultural work. Our new Spanish-language consumer education e-book, credit education articles in Spanish, and the new monthly #ChatDeCrédito launched during Hispanic Heritage Month are available to all consumers. Having credit education resources available in-language is just one of many ways we can help those who have faced barriers to accessing credit and financial tools. We look forward to our partnership with UnidosUS and continuing to empower the Hispanic-Latino community.

The historic civil rights organization, the National Urban League, kicked off its first-ever virtual national convention recently, and Craig Boundy, former Chief Executive Officer of Experian North America had the honor of joining them. National Urban League President and CEO Marc Morial and Craig announced our new partnership that will support financial inclusion and credit education. During the announcement, Marc mentioned one of the key findings of the Urban League’s 2021 State of Black America – The New Normal: close to 17 percent of Black households lacked basic financial services, compared with three percent of white households in 2017, the last year for which FDIC statistics are available. He characterized this as a “disastrous and disproportionate impact of the COVID pandemic on the economic stability of African American communities.” We believe working together will make a big difference in the lives of underserved consumers. As part of our United for Financial Health program, Experian is providing National Urban League members access to credit education tools and services like consumer credit reports and Experian Boost™, as well as resources for small businesses. As Craig mentioned in his remarks, “at the heart of this partnership is knowledge: when you understand financial services, you come to understand the financial system. You can take steps to create and improve a relationship with financial service providers. That can make a huge difference today, and for future generations.” This partnership is just the start of our relationship with the National Urban League, and we look forward to working together towards closing the wealth gap and empowering consumers to achieve their life’s goals.

The summer months in Italy often provide us with a short time to take a break and recharge our batteries as we head into the second half of Experian’s financial year. Yet, there is still the opportunity to move important projects further forward. In July, Chief Operating Officer of Experian EMEA Marco Benvenuto announced we had agreed to partnerships with two non-profit organisations as part of our United for Financial Health programme. MircoLab and AMS both have goals that align with ours in working to reduce financial exclusion. Today, I can provide you with more details about our partnership and how we will help groups of people who find it hard to access fair and affordable credit because they lack relevant financial data. These credit “invisibles” can often come from vulnerable groups such as NEETs (Not in Employment, Education or Training), foreign caregivers and female victims of violence. The Covid-19 pandemic has been a challenge for us all, not least the people in these groups. Working with our partners, the IncludiMi initiative aims to create a new credit assessment based on data that can contribute to a more inclusive measure once analysed. We will also strengthen the skills of the people involved by offering financial education and mentoring them to become economically independent. At the heart of the new programme is the planned IncludiMi app, which will allow credit “invisibles”, including the unbanked, to have their financial health estimated by reviewing non-traditional data. People will use the app to create and understand their personal and family’s budgets while following tips and suggestions from the financial education sessions led by experts at our partners. We are excited about the potential this partnership - and the United for Financial Health programme overall - has to improve the lives of so many people by tackling financial exclusion. I look forward to providing you with further updates on our progress in the coming months.

There are times in most of our lives where we can't get access to the financial system in a way that we want. Be it for a mortgage, a car, or a business loan. We've all experienced the frustration when you feel you're on the outside of the system and you can’t do the things you want for yourself or your family. At Experian, it's our job to change that. We want to make sure everybody is included and has access to fair and affordable financial products. Financial inclusion is fundamental to our business.  With our focus on increasing access to financial services, improving financial literacy and confidence, and helping people manage their financial lives; we help power people and businesses to create their future. In fact, the United Nations includes access to financial services, such as credit and microfinance, among its Sustainable Development Goals. Access to affordable credit opens the door to opportunities for people to transform their lives – from homes and healthcare to education and entrepreneurship. This has never been more important than it is today. Creating a Campaign to Drive Financial Health Worldwide As the pandemic took hold in 2020, we stepped in with data and analytics to support governments, health services and national emergency response efforts through major initiatives such as COVID Radar in Brazil and Experian CORE (COVID Outlook & Response Evaluator). These are just two examples of how we can use our data and expertise to make the biggest difference to society. It soon became clear that the impact — not just on physical health, but on financial health — would be far-reaching for people around the world. We looked at how we could use our expertise and resources to help vulnerable communities through the crisis and focused on financial education as the best way to strengthen their resilience and support their road to recovery. We launched our United for Financial Health programme.  We rapidly established 11 NGO partnerships across our biggest consumer markets to deliver targeted financial education for some of the communities hit hardest by COVID-19.  By the end of the year, we had reached nearly 35 million people, more than double our original goal of 15 million, and we’re not stopping there. We aim to reach 100 million people by 2024. Part of our efforts include our member relationships around the world.  This year, we surpassed the milestone of 100 million direct relationships with consumers globally and delivered further innovations to support people through our business, with the launch of products like Experian Boost in the UK and Serasa Score Turbo in Brazil.  This, of course, is on top of our ground-breaking Experian Boost launch in the United States in 2019. Our goal is to have a direct relationship with as many people as possible; to truly become the Consumers’ Credit Bureau and power financial opportunities for all. Driving Innovation with Social Purpose Our culture of innovation helps us harness opportunities to drive business growth. We are continually investing in product innovation and new sources of data to address emerging market opportunities that can make a real difference to global communities. In 2020, around 1,000 “innovators” from across Experian joined our annual Future of Information Conference, which was held virtually because of the pandemic, to encourage them to think differently in their work. Topics included fairness in artificial intelligence, transforming agribusiness and enhancing the consumer healthcare experience. Teams at our DataLabs in Brazil, Singapore, the UK and the USA tap into our culture of innovation to continually create new solutions to global challenges. The result of all this is that our Social Innovation products have now reached 61 million people since 2013.  We aim to reach 100 million by 2025. As John Hope Bryant, CEO of one of our NGO partners Operation HOPE, says, “Experian’s commitment to unlocking the power of data to create opportunity means more people will be set up not just to survive, but to thrive in the months and years to come.” In this year’s Sustainable Business Report our commitments come through stronger than ever. We are raising our ambition and aiming to reach 100 million people through our social innovation products by 2025. Our goal is to reach 100 million people through our United for Financial Health campaign by 2024. We have also pledged to protect our planet by becoming carbon neutral in our own operations by 2030. We know we’ve got more work to do and we remain focused on using our business to make real and sustainable change.  With social innovation running so deeply through the core of our culture, and our commitment to improving global financial health front and centre of our thinking, we will continue to push to find new solutions to help people, serve communities and protect the environment, helping to create a better future for all. All of this is very personal to me.  I passionately believe we can and should drive to make a difference in society.  I serve as executive sponsor of our ESG programs and this isn’t just another corporate program, it’s at the heart of what we do as a company to power financial opportunities. My personal pledge is to continue to keep you updated, as we progress our agenda to sustainable environmental and societal change. Read the full SBR report here.

Last week, I had the chance to take part in a few really important conversations and further exemplify our leadership and commitment to driving financial inclusion. On July 13, I had a frank dialogue with Derrick Johnson, President of the NAACP, during their 112th NAACP Virtual Annual Convention. Our conversation centered around economic inclusion, the wealth gap and the ways companies, like ours, can help provide education and access to financial services. During my conversation with Derrick, he referred to credit as a currency. I think that’s absolutely the right way to talk about it. Credit gives people access to financial services. It can divide people or bring them together to achieve their goals. We recognize there are millions of consumers who lack access to credit today. That’s why we continue to innovate through tools like Experian Boost, our free tool that enables consumers to contribute positive payment data to their Experian credit report. Especially in underserved communities, consumers may not get credit for paying their utility bills, cell phone bills, or even their streaming services, and they should. This provides a more accurate picture of their financial situation. I also participated in a virtual press conference with the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and leaders from PNC, HomeFree-USA and Fifth Third Bank to discuss our participation in Project REACh, which stands for Roundtable for Economic Access and Change. It brings together leaders from the banking industry, national civil rights organizations, business and technology to reduce barriers that prevent full, equal and fair participation in the nation’s economy. We were approached to participate because of our deep understanding of credit risk and our ability to help financial institutions make informed credit decisions through data and advanced analytics. Our role is to help develop programs with the Alternative Credit Scoring Utility Team and Small Business Opportunity Team that drive financial inclusion. Our participation in Project REACh is the latest example in a string of efforts to address this important issue, including Experian Boost and our flagship lender score Experian Lift, which leverages all Experian assets to improve consumer’s access to credit. We believe that every individual deserves the opportunity to reach their fullest financial potential through fair and affordable access to credit. By sharing information around tools like Experian Boost, expanding credit education through partnerships like the NAACP, and working with leaders in the industry through Project REACh, we can help increase financial access and empower consumers to enter into the credit ecosystem – some for the first time. We’re committed to working side-by-side with regulators, businesses and consumers to eliminate credit invisibility and improve financial equity and access.

At Experian, we create a better tomorrow by powering opportunities for consumers, customers, our people and communities.  We use the full range of our capabilities to drive financial education and inclusion, and one of the ways we do this is through our United for Financial Health programme. I am delighted to announce the launch of this important programme in two of EMEA’s markets today.  We’re excited for the positive difference our two new partnerships will make to help vulnerable consumers financially recover from the impacts of Covid-19. In Italy, incidents of domestic violence have increased considerably during the global pandemic, with the Italian National Institute of Statistics reporting a 75% increase in calls to anti-violence helplines in 2020 alone.  Further statistics show women are particularly affected by unemployment due to Covid-19, reducing victims’ financial independence and their ability to escape from situations of abuse.  The increase in domestic violence since the onset of the pandemic has also been highlighted globally by the UN. To help those impacted, we intend to partner with MicroLab and Microfinanza, who support women victims of domestic violence, foreign caregivers, and young people not in employment, education or training (NEETs).  Our partnership aims to help these people access credit, so they have the financial means to improve their current situation, and take steps toward creating a better tomorrow.  We will collaborate to deliver financial education, and we intend to develop an app that captures open (non-traditional) financial data to help them build their credit profiles. In South Africa, unemployment stands at 32.6%.  A large proportion of people in the country run or work for small to medium-size enterprises (SMEs). By helping these organisations access affordable credit so they can continue to operate through the pandemic, we believe we can have a tangible impact on people’s employment. We will partner with the National Small Business Chamber, a non-profit membership organisation that supports SMEs.  Together, we will educate small business owners on their financial and credit health, empowering them to improve their personal and business credit profiles to access the funding required to maintain and grow their businesses. Combined, we estimate our partnership with our NGO partners will reach 3.8 million consumers, helping deliver on our Company’s commitment to reach 100 million people by 2024. We start work on these projects today on our path to creating a better tomorrow.

The financial services industry is poised to take advantage of the unprecedented availability of accurate, comprehensive, and timely data. Through increased lender adoption, the growing array of insightful data can create meaningful change and provide access to credit for more consumers and businesses than ever before. At Experian, we feel we have a responsibility to consumers seeking credit. Ensuring lenders can obtain the insights needed for responsible lending is key to supporting this. By leveraging the most accurate traditional credit data as well as expanded data sources that improve how risk can be assessed for thin-file or no-file consumers, lenders can form a precise picture of an individual’s financial situation and improve financial access for millions of Americans who have been unfairly excluded from the credit ecosystem. Extend credit responsibly. Some of the most predictive information available today is employment data, including how long a consumer has been at a job and how much they earn. Layering verified income and employment information with credit data can improve financial outcomes for consumers and help lenders say ‘yes’ when they otherwise couldn’t or wouldn’t. To help, Experian has released Experian Verify™ - a suite of solutions that provide lenders with real-time access to verified information about a consumer’s income and employment status. Through Experian Verify, credit card, personal loan, auto and mortgage lenders have near-instant access to millions of active employer records to verify an applicant’s income and employment status for use across the lifecycle, including pre-qualification, originations and account review. The products are powered by Experian’s growing network of exclusive employer records and payroll partner data, which includes data from recent acquisitions of Corporate Cost Control (CCC), Tax Credit Co. (TCC) and EmpTech. We are answering the industry’s call for change in income and employment verification while providing lender’s with deeper insights to increase financial access. Putting consumers in control. This is the latest example of many that illustrate our commitment to improve financial access for consumers. The new products complement Experian Boost – a free tool that empowers consumers to contribute their on-time telecom, utility, streaming services and mobile phone payments directly to their Experian credit report. Incorporating this information has been proven to increase the predictiveness of a consumer’s credit reputation and can complement the data derived from their lending history. Experian Boost provides consumers with the ability to immediately impact their credit scores, while providing lenders with deeper insight into a consumer’s financial situation. With Experian Boost, nearly 70 percent see an uplift in their credit score. Since the product was released in 2019, more than 7 million consumers have connected to Experian Boost with over 50 million cumulative points added to FICO Scores. The financial impact to the industry is significant, with Experian Boost users gaining access to more than $1.7 billion in credit as a result of improved credit scores. Serving credit invisibles. Our commitment to consumers does not end there. Through our investments in expanded data sources and advanced analytics, we are helping lenders identify consumers who are excluded from the traditional credit ecosystem, but who can fulfill their financial obligations and pay responsibly. Experian Lift, our suite of lender credit scores, has the potential to help more than 40 million credit invisible consumers gain access to credit while providing first and second chances to millions more. Experian Lift uses proprietary technology, advanced analytics, and machine learning models to combine exclusive credit data attributes, trended data and expanded Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) regulated data sets. This combination of data and technology is creating new opportunities for consumers who are often overlooked. Looking ahead. Data has the power to unlock financial opportunities for millions of consumers. Collaboration between Experian, lenders and consumers that is informed by data is key to keeping the economy flowing and improving livelihoods of Americans. As we look to the road ahead, we are committed to working side-by-side with lenders, credit scoring companies and consumers to eliminate credit invisibility and improve financial equity and access.

In most parts of the U.S., the start of summer marked the lifting of many pandemic led restrictions. Capacity limits, mask mandates and social distancing requirements are being removed and many of us are spending more time doing the things we enjoyed prior to the onslaught of COVID-19. There is no question the pandemic created serious financial challenges for millions of Americans, yet many people found opportunity to improve their financial standing. Fewer options for travel, dining and entertainment reduced costs, while the government stimulus packages helped maintain or increased available funds. Personal savings surged, and lower credit card balances and fewer missed payments spurred an uptick in average credit scores. Sadly, at the same time, many consumers struggled to make ends meet as they faced job loss, illness or cared for ill friends and family. As the world starts to reopen and things begin to feel a bit more normal, many people have questions about how they can improve (or protect their newly improved) credit scores and prepare for a financial healthy summer. One of the best places to start is by checking your credit report. You can get a copy of your Experian credit report and a FICO Score at no cost every 30 days by enrolling in our free service. When you enroll you not only receive a free credit report and score each month, but also have access to other services that can help you protect your financial health, including credit monitoring and alerts and credit card and loan offers that are tailored to you. The belief that checking your own credit report will hurt your credit scores is a common misconception. You should check both your credit report and scores often. You can also get a free credit report from each of the three bureaus once every week at www.annualcreditreport.com through April 2022. In addition to getting your free credit report from Experian, here are five other things you can do to improve or maintain your credit standing this summer: 1. Prepare for big purchases. Regularly checking your credit report and credit scores is always a good idea. This is especially true if your summer plans include applying for new credit cards, auto loans or a mortgage. I recommend getting a copy of your credit report and credit scores three to six months ahead of applying for new credit, especially if it’s a major purchase. Doing so can help you ensure there are no signs of identity theft and that your credit scores are as good as they can be when you apply. Use this link to get a free copy of your Experian credit report with a FICO Score. 2. Have a summer spending plan. After many months spent at home with little to do, it may be hard to avoid the temptation to overspend. It’s great that we can pick up canceled travel plans and get together with friends and family, but don’t try to make up for lost time at the expense of your financial health. Create a budget outlining what you can afford to spend this summer and build your plans from there. Doing so can help you avoid the temptation to overspend and prioritize what’s important to you. 3. Get credit for paying your bills on time. While this summer may be filled with less Netflix binging than last summer, you can still use your on-time bill payments to your advantage. Experian Boost allows you to get credit for paying your streaming service, cell phone, internet, utility bills and other bills on time.   4. Avoid missed payments. Nothing will hurt your credit scores more than missed or late payments. To maintain a positive credit history, make a plan to catch up on any missed payments and contact your lenders if you think you may fall behind. Sometimes summer plans can disrupt routines. Enrolling in autopay can be a helpful way to stay on a payment schedule that works for you.  5. Keep your card balances low. Your utilization rate, or balance-to-limit ratio, is an important factor in determining your credit scores. It is calculated by adding all your credit card balances at any given time and dividing that amount by your total credit limit. Lenders typically like to see ratios of 30% or less, and people with the best credit scores often have very low credit utilization ratios. A low credit utilization ratio tells lenders you haven't maxed out your credit cards and likely know how to manage credit well.  Keep in mind that if you use your credit cards for summer travel plans or vacations and pay your balances down when you return home, you may still see a temporary drop in your credit scores. Your lender reports your account status about once a month, so it could be several weeks before your report is updated. Scores calculated after your report is updated will reflect the paid off amount. Depending on when you made a payment, it could take a full billing cycle before your credit report is updated and your credit score reflects those changes. Remember, credit can be a financial tool, but debt is a financial problem. If you’re looking for more resources on credit education, head to the Ask Experian blog or join us for an upcoming Credit Chat every Wednesday at 3 p.m. EST on Twitter. Until then, I hope you have a happy, safe and financially healthy summer.

We sit in a pivotal position in the societies where we operate. For us, using our expertise in data to help tackle big societal issues, is much more than an opportunity. It’s a responsibility that we take very seriously. And we are passionate about creating a dynamic and diverse workplace. We want to be one of the best companies in the world to work for, a business that our employees are proud to be part of, where people of all backgrounds have equal opportunities to grow and succeed. That’s why this year we are announcing the publication of two new global reports, recognising our commitment to diversity, inclusion and sustainability. The launch of our first Global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Report highlights our dedicated focus on creating an environment where people of all backgrounds have equal opportunities to grow and succeed. The publication of this new report is a step forward for us in increasing transparency around our progress and goals. As part of this, we are announcing our new target of increasing the number of women in the senior leadership team to 40% by 2024. Our commitment to sustainable business practice is also stronger than ever. This year’s Sustainable Business Report sets a number of goals to help us create a better tomorrow for everyone. Including reaching 100m people through our social innovation products by 2025 (from 2013) and that by 2030 we will cut our scope 1 and 2 emissions by 50% and our scope 3 emissions by 15% - recognising the urgent need for more businesses to accelerate their response to climate change. You can read more about the work we are doing in the full reports here: Global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Report Sustainable Business Report