NA – North America

At Experian, we strive to be an organization where everyone can bring their whole selves to work and we’re committed to having a positive inclusive culture. Hiq Lee, president of Experian’s Business Information Services, has been a key leader in driving our diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. We are thrilled to share that The Council for Inclusion in Financial Services is recognizing her work, honoring her with this year’s Trailblazer Award. The award recognizes demonstrated excellence in establishing new and creative Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives that are influencing transformation in the recipient’s industry and their communities. Also serving as Experian’s Diversity and Inclusion Executive Co-Chair, Hiq has been instrumental in establishing many of our employee resource groups and the leadership collective that continues to evolve the way we celebrate our diversity. Hiq shares how we celebrate DE&I every day: What is Experian doing to ensure a positive work environment for employees? In 2017 we started our Power of You movement to raise awareness about Experian’s efforts in diversity, equity and inclusion and provide employees transparency into the initiatives that are part of the program. Subsequently, we advanced policies across a wide range of initiatives such as pay equity, paternal leave, flexible working arrangements, and corporate social responsibility to help employees feel empowered to work at Experian. Then in 2018, we launched Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), which are company-supported networks run by employees, which create a strong sense of community and connection. All of our ERGs have a core set of objectives that describe the positive impact they focus on making. As of today Experian has eight active ERGs, which focus on Military Veterans and Patriots, the African American community, the Asian community, the Latinx community, the Indian community, the Experian Pride Network, Women, and individuals with disabilities and mental health & well-being. Corporations and their DEI efforts are under a microscope today, and many of those efforts can be seen as uniform across all major companies. What sets the ERGs at Experian apart? Experian ERGs were formed to provide tangible support to our employee base by strengthening the feeling of community and belonging across our organization. At Experian, we realize that digital transformation is human transformation. We understood that culture and belonging have to be at the heart of our organization in order for our teams to drive and develop the best products and innovations. We genuinely embrace a culture where everyone has a true sense of belonging, knowing they can show up every day and be who they are, professionally and personally. We work hard to create an environment where everyone is comfortable bringing their whole self to work, regardless of differences and backgrounds. It’s about advancing a culture that not only respects differences, but actively celebrates them. What are the most essential contributions someone who is spearheading DEI initiatives at their company can make? The key is empathy and a profound desire for elevating the communities we work and play in. There are several essential components to trailblazing DE&I efforts, including an affinity for change and passion for embracing cultures outside of one’s own. There’s also a significant importance in engaging employees at all levels of management. At Experian, we operate in 44 countries around the world and aim to emphasize and highlight the unique experiences and perspectives in our employees’ own words, describing their experience as members of an organization that values and celebrates diversity and inclusion. What does this award mean to you and your role at Experian? I’m humbled by such recognition as there’s always so much to learn and so many perspectives through which we can assess the world around us. This award is special because I’ve invested time and energy into creating more equitable and diverse spaces, not only at Experian but also in my community. Our teams are committed to creating opportunities for small businesses and consumers to succeed. We know that having a diverse team only helps further that mission. What are your most important values as a leader? The leaders who I have come to respect and look up to have a few principle values in common. Those values are grounded on integrity, authenticity, nonjudgmental and empathy. I also believe it’s important that leaders genuinely have passion for their team and are whole heartedly dedicated to helping their team’s development. These values will help influence shaping our inclusive culture where people can thrive and feel amazing coming to work every day, charged and ready to go the extra mile for their leaders.

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.

A little more than a year removed from the beginning of the pandemic, and we’re still seeing many of the most vulnerable and underserved communities struggling to find a stable financial foothold. These are consumers with little to no credit history and are often underrepresented in the network of bank branches and sometimes less familiar with what’s available to them in the consumer credit system. The pandemic has taken a toll on the fabric of our financial ecosystem, and we need to help these consumers get back on their feet. That’s one of the reasons we’ve partnered with the 100 Black Men of Greater Washington, D.C. Together, we’re launching a broad financial health initiative to assist multiple African American communities suffering COVID-19-related hardship. But the partnership is just one of the ways Experian is assisting marginalized and underserved communities. Addressing Financial Inclusion Experian is deeply committed to helping marginalized and low-income communities access the financial resources they need to live. That’s why we’re working to ensure we find ways to help underserved consumers gain access to fair and affordable credit by assisting them in building their credit profiles. We view ourselves as “The Consumers’ Bureau,” and it’s our commensurate responsibility to do everything we can to drive financial inclusion. We are working side-by-side with lenders, credit scoring companies and consumers to eliminate credit invisibility and improve financial equity. Our teams at Experian, diverse as they are, feel passionate about this very important mission. We understand that a big part of the solution relies on bringing new sources of data into our credit files, so that credit scores reflect all of a consumers’ relevant financial behavior. We strongly believe that these new sources of data will augment and thereby enhance our current credit data as an effective means for lenders’ assessment of a consumer’s financial situation. There’s a percentage of the population—on average, it’s 17% of Americans, measured by FICO—who are excluded from the credit economy because they simply lack a credit history. To that end, we’ve been a pioneer in using rental, utilities and telecom payment data to help broaden credit access for consumers. Boosting 6 Million In fact, more than two years ago, we created Experian Boost, which was a first-of-its-kind service designed to help consumers instantly improve their FICO® Score by giving them credit for on-time utility, telecom and streaming service payments. All of those elements are conceived to be part of people’s credit scores, however utility and cell phone providers have not collaborated to report their data to all credit bureaus. With Experian Boost, we empower consumers to report the data themselves, and more importantly, 70% of consumers benefit from doing so, seeing an uplift in their credit score. And to date, more than 6 million consumers have used Experian Boost with over 50 million cumulative points added to FICO Scores across the US. Our Commitment to Financial Health But our commitment doesn’t end there. Consumer credit education and best practices are key to setting marginalized consumers up for financial success. Through Experian’s United for Financial Health initiative—we’re empowering vulnerable people and communities to improve their financial wellbeing through that very belief. In addition to our partnership with the 100 Black Men of Greater Washington, D.C., we’re working closely with Operation HOPE, Black Girl Ventures, and NAACP Empowerment Programs, to help disenfranchised groups improve their credit standing, provide entrepreneurial education for Black and Brown women entrepreneurs, and offer grants to help homeowners at risk of losing their homes In addition to our consumer credit education initiatives with our partners, we continually push credit education materials and programming through our own social media channels and community outreach efforts. In honor of Financial Literacy Month, we’re hosting a #CreditChat on Wednesday, April 28 at 3 p.m. ET, entitled, Closing the Financial Literacy Gap in Underserved Communities.   We believe helping underserved communities better understand the credit ecosystem and equipping them with the tools and knowledge to improve their credit standing, are mission critical to a healthier financial life. And we’re hopeful this #CreditChat discussion is another step forward in that journey. We won’t rest until the job’s done. We’ll continue to innovate and find new ways to use data in the credit scoring process, and work arm-in-arm with consumers and lenders to improve financial access. Through our investments in data and advanced analytics, we’ll continue to help lenders identify consumers who are excluded from the credit ecosystem, but who can fulfill their financial obligations and pay responsibly. We want to empower consumers to take control of their financial lives, and will continue to take strides to do so.

During a year of the pivot, Experian North America remained focused on our purpose: Creating a Better Tomorrow. It’s not just a marketing tag line. It’s the lens through which we care for our employees, and how they in turn fuel innovations to serve our communities when they need help the most. That’s why this year’s 31 ranking in the Fortune "100 Best Companies to Work For" is so incredibly meaningful. For this year’s national award, two elements were considered: confidential employee feedback and the programs companies created to support people and communities in response to COVID-19. The employee surveys were distributed last summer, in the thick of pandemic restrictions and lockdowns. All around, we saw improvement: 50 percent of employees responded to the surveys (compared to 43 percent the year before), and 92 percent of employees attest that Experian is a Great Company to Work For (compared to 86 percent the year before). We’ve worked hard to build an employee culture over the past several years that continuously strives for inclusion and equity. This foundation became instrumental to how we navigated the past twelve months. Our employee resource groups took the lead to support our colleagues with the creation of a dynamic mental health and well-being guide, producing programs that brought awareness and support during social unrest and the rise in racism, and arranging annual celebrations to provide a touch of “normalcy.” Through a year that also included natural disasters such as the arctic blast, wildfires, storms and flooding, we have been there for each other. From free credit reports for consumers and small businesses, to products and services that enable governments, healthcare providers and nonprofits to prepare for and serve populations in crisis, Experian North America’s workforce leveraged diversity of perspectives, backgrounds and experiences to help vulnerable populations in crisis from COVID-19. Even through lockdowns and restrictions, employees logged 18,000 volunteer hours to increase financial inclusivity, support frontline healthcare workers, honor the nation’s military and veterans, and fight hunger. The Human Rights Campaign Foundation gave Experian North America a perfect score in its Corporate Equality Index for the third year in a row, and the company earned its recertification as a Great Place to Work. It has been named one of the top 10 Fortune’s Best Workplaces in Financial Services and Insurance, and a Comparably Top 50 company for Best Outlook 2021. Experian Costa Rica, part of our North America region, also earned Great Place to Work honors for the third year in a row. Our purpose runs deep. We put our people at the heart of how we run our business and it guides how we serve our consumers, clients and each other. We will continue this momentum of the 2021 Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For by helping to drive financial inclusion and equity, growing our business through innovation, and creating opportunities for our coworkers to thrive and build meaningful careers.  

After launching Experian Boost, the first-of-its-kind tool that allows consumers to instantly increase their credit scores, in March 2019 we recently reached a significant milestone. Millions of consumers have boosted their credit scores to the tune of 50 million total points. This means many consumers have improved score bands, saved money with better interest rates, and maybe reached some of their financial goals such as gaining access to credit for a home. In fact, we know our Boost users have gained access to more than 1.7 billion total dollars in credit as a result of improving their credit score. The idea behind Experian Boost is to give consumers control over their credit – to enable them to make real, substantial progress in their financial health journey by getting “credit” for paying bills on time. Our ability to help consumers in a challenging economic climate is what drives us to continue to innovate.  For example, we recently expanded Experian Boost to add positive payment history for video streaming services such as Netflix in addition to telecom and utility payments. The benefits to having control and using tools like Experian Boost do not end there. Consumers receive a boosted FICO® Score, which is used by a majority of lenders giving them a great opportunity for credit with better terms. In the first year after launching, we saw one million consumers add a credit card and nearly 250,000 consumers acquired an auto loan. Also, some consumers earned a credit score for the first time. What is also significant about Experian Boost is that this type of financial control and opportunity gives consumers a sense of empowerment, motivation and satisfaction that they can take a positive step in their financial journey. We’ve heard this firsthand from consumers through focus groups, and we even featured some consumers in our commercials who shared their positive experiences in front of the camera. This sentiment of empowerment among consumers is especially important right now as many are struggling financially due to the pandemic. We have many exciting new tools launching in 2021 and will continue to focus on empowering consumers to reach their financial goals. To learn more about Experian Boost, visit www.experian.com/boost.

Does checking my credit report hurt my credit score? How can I improve my credit score? What’s the difference between a credit score and a credit report? These are a few of the questions I most often hear about credit, and the answers to these fundamental questions are essential to financial well-being. Understanding credit scores and the factors that influence overall credit health is important any time, but this is especially true in our current environment. As part of our ongoing commitment to consumer education on the road to recovery, I recently had the pleasure of partnering with Akbar Gbajabiamila, host of American Ninja Warrior, former football pro and financial fitness expert, for an Instagram Live event. Akbar is passionate about helping people develop a financial game plan and he understands having a good credit history is a key component of good financial health. During the Instagram Live event, I answered questions from Akbar’s fans and shared ways to improve your credit score through tools like Experian Boost. In case you missed it, you can watch the video recap on Akbar’s Instagram account (@akbar_gbaja) or at the following link: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CLpbdDJlaQ6/   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by 🇳🇬Akbar Gbajabiamila🇺🇸 (@akbar_gbaja) A positive credit history can be the gatekeeper to many of the things we all want in life, and we’re committed to helping facilitate fair and affordable access to credit for all consumers, including those in marginalized communities. This is one of the many reasons I’m passionate about my role at Experian. Educating consumers about credit is an important part of getting the economy as a whole humming again and helping those most in need. If you have additional questions about credit, feel free to check out the free resources below. Additional credit education resources and tools Join Experian’s weekly#CreditChat hosted by @Experian on Twitter with financial experts every Wednesday at 3 p.m. Eastern time. Visit the Ask Experian blog for answers to common questions, advice and education about credit. Add positive telecom, utility and streaming service payments to your Experian credit report for an opportunity to improve your credit scores by visiting experian.com/boost. You can request a free copy of your credit report from each of the three credit bureaus once a week through April 20, 2022 by visiting annualcreditreport.com For additional resources, visit https://www.experian.com/consumereducationor experian.com/coronavirus.  

We recognize that COVID-19 has challenged Americans across the country, and nearly a year later, people are still struggling to recover. Among the more pressing issues for people has been navigating the financial landscape and hardships brought on by illness and high unemployment rates. At Experian, we empathize with consumers and are committed to helping them manage their financial lives. As part of this commitment, Experian, along with the other U.S. credit reporting agencies, is continuing to offer free weekly credit reports to all Americans for an additional year via AnnualCreditReport.com. At Experian, we view ourselves as the consumers’ bureau, and aim to help people  better position themselves as they recover from COVID-related hardships. We’re proud of our ongoing efforts to assist consumers, particularly during these difficult times. Financial and credit information is constantly updated, and we believe providing consumers with increased access to their credit reports will help them improve their financial health, monitor for lender updates and ensure there is no fraudulent or unfamiliar activity on their credit profiles. We are committed to helping facilitate access to fair and affordable access to credit for all consumers. Our goal is not only to help consumers build credit, but also to effectively manage it. Beyond our continued offering of free credit reports, consumers can access resources and educational materials to help learn about credit and other important personal finance topics. In fact, we recently launched our United for Financial Health project to empower vulnerable populations to improve their financial health through education and action. We’re continually exploring new ways to use our data and resources to empower consumers and to improve their financial health and recover from COVID-19; extending access to free weekly credit reports is just another step in that process.

A year ago, we shifted our business to remote working as the global pandemic took hold. Like the rest of the world, we had no idea how long we’d be away, but we didn’t really imagine we’d still be operating our business with a remote workforce a year later. What a year it has been. It is incredible to look back and reflect on how our lives have changed, how we were able to adapt to this new way of living and working, and really importantly, how we were able to keep innovating to help communities and businesses during this difficult time. We have captured highlights of our work and efforts in our North America annual diversity and inclusion report, 2020 Power of YOU. At Experian, the safety and well-being of our colleagues has consistently been a top priority. As such, we have been able to focus on serving consumers and clients when and where they need help the most. As a company, we expanded our benefits to take care of our employees. Coworkers jumped in to take care of each other. Our employee resource group dedicated to mental health and caregiving partnered with colleagues to create a dynamic set of tools and guides tackling different topics every week through webinars, articles and personal, candid videos from leaders. We supported each other during times of social unrest. We celebrated progress in growing our business. We logged 18,000 volunteer hours to increase financial inclusion, support frontline healthcare workers, honor active duty military and veterans, and fight hunger in underprivileged communities. We leveraged our diversity of perspectives, backgrounds and experiences to help vulnerable populations in crisis from COVID-19, including launching our United for Financial Health program. We remain steadfast and committed to equity for all. We are proud to start the new year with this wonderful look back at last year, propelling us forward to more opportunities to innovate and serve. We invite you to check out the 2020 Power of YOU Report here.

Here’s what we expect in 2021: Putting a Face to Frankenstein IDs: Synthetic identity fraud – when a fraudster uses a combination of real and fake information to create an entirely new identity – is currently the fastest growing type of financial crime. The progressive uptick in synthetic identity fraud is likely due to multiple factors, including data breaches, dark web data access and the competitive lending landscape. As methods for fraud detection continue to mature, Experian expects fraudsters to use fake faces for biometric verification. These “Frankenstein faces” will use AI to combine facial characteristics from different people to form a new identity, creating a challenge for businesses relying on facial recognition technology as a significant part of their fraud prevention strategy. “Too Good to Be True” COVID Solutions: With the distribution of vaccines underway and wider availability of rapid COVID-19 testing, Experian expects that fraudsters will continue to find opportunities to capitalize on anxious and vulnerable consumers and businesses. Everyone needs to be vigilant against fraudsters using the promise of at-home test kits, vaccines and treatments as means for sophisticated phishing attacks, telemarketing fraud and social engineering schemes. Stimulus Fraud Activity, Round Two: For Americans suddenly out of work or struggling with the financial fallout from the pandemic, 2020’s government-issued stimulus funds were a welcome relief, but also an easy target for fraudsters to commit scams. Experian predicts fraudsters will take advantage of additional stimulus funding by using stolen data from consumers to intercept stimulus or unemployment payments. Say ‘Hello’ to Constant Automated Attacks: Once the stimulus fraud attacks run their course, Experian predicts hackers will increasingly turn to automated methods, including script creation (using fraudulent information to automate account creation) and credential stuffing (using stolen data from a breach to take over a user’s other accounts) to make cyberattacks and account takeovers easier and more scalable than ever before. With billions of records exposed in the U.S. due to data breaches annually, this type of fraud will prosper in 2021 and beyond until the industry moves away from its reliance on usernames and passwords. Survival of the Fittest for Small Businesses: As a result of COVID-19, businesses were left with no choice but to quickly shift to digital to meet the needs of consumers, and some were more prepared than others. In 2020, consumers may have been willing to give businesses time to adjust to the new normal, but in 2021 their expectations will be higher. Experian predicts businesses with lackluster fraud prevention tools and insufficient online security technology will suffer large financial losses in 2021 and beyond. While fraudsters will iterate on new and old methods of attack in 2021, Experian is always innovating to help businesses stay one step ahead. As a leader in fraud prevention, Experian offers a full suite of automated fraud prevention and detection tools that harness data and analytics to make businesses more secure. To learn more, check out Experian’s fraud prevention solutions and download the Future of Fraud Forecast.