Fintech

Lately, I’ve been surprised by the emphasis that some fraud prevention practitioners still place on manual fraud reviews and treatment. With the market’s intense focus on real-time decisions and customer experience, it seems that fraud processing isn’t always keeping up with the trends. I’ve been involved in several lively discussions on this topic. On one side of the argument sit the analytical experts who are incredibly good at distilling mountains of detailed information into the most accurate fraud risk prediction possible. Their work is intended to relieve users from the burden of scrutinizing all of that data. On the other side of the argument sits the human side of the debate. Their position is that only a human being is able to balance the complexity of judging risk with the sensitivity of handling a potential customer. All of this has led me to consider the pros and cons of manual fraud reviews. The Pros of Manual Review When we consider the requirements for review, it certainly seems that there could be a strong case for using a manual process rather than artificial intelligence. Human beings can bring knowledge and experience that is outside of the data that an analytical decision can see. Knowing what type of product or service the customer is asking for and whether or not it’s attractive to criminals leaps to mind. Or perhaps the customer is part of a small community where they’re known to the institution through other types of relationships—like a credit union with a community- or employer-based field of membership. In cases like these, there are valuable insights that come from the reviewer’s knowledge of the world outside of the data that’s available for analytics. The Cons of Manual Review When we look at the cons of manual fraud review, there’s a lot to consider. First, the costs can be high. This goes beyond the dollars paid to people who handle the review to the good customers that are lost because of delays and friction that occurs as part of the review process. In a past webinar, we asked approximately 150 practitioners how often an application flagged for identity discrepancies resulted in that application being abandoned. Half of the audience indicated that more than 50% of those customers were lost. Another 30% didn’t know what the impact was. Those potentially good customers were lost because the manual review process took too long. Additionally, the results are subjective. Two reviewers with different levels of skill and expertise could look at the same information and choose a different course of action or make a different decision. A single reviewer can be inconsistent, too—especially if they’re expected to meet productivity measures. Finally, manual fraud review doesn’t support policy development. In another webinar earlier this year, a fraud prevention practitioner mentioned that her organization’s past reliance on manual review left them unable to review fraud cases and figure out how the criminals were able to succeed. Her organization simply couldn’t recreate the reviewer’s thought process and find the mistake that lead to a fraud loss. To Review or Not to Review? With compelling arguments on both sides, what is the best practice for manually reviewing cases of fraud risk? Hopefully, the following list will help: DO: Get comfortable with what analytics tell you. Analytics divide events into groups that share a measurable level of fraud risk. Use the analytics to define different tiers of risk and assign each tier to a set of next steps. Start simple, breaking the accounts that need scrutiny into high, medium and low risk groups. Perhaps the high risk group includes one instance of fraud out of every five cases. Have a plan for how these will be handled. You might require additional identity documentation that would be hard for a criminal to falsify or some other action. Another group might include one instance in every 20 cases. A less burdensome treatment can be used here – like a one-time-passcode (OTP) sent to a confirmed mobile number. Any cases that remain unverified might then be asked for the same verification you used on the high-risk group. DON’T: Rely on a single analytical score threshold or risk indicator to create one giant pile of work that has to be sorted out manually. This approach usually results in a poor experience for a large number of customers, and a strong possibility that the next steps are not aligned to the level of risk. DO: Reserve manual review for situations where the reviewer can bring some new information or knowledge to the cases they review. DON’T: Use the same underlying data that generated the analytics as the basis of a review. Consider two simplistic cases that use a new address with no past association to the individual. In one case, there are several other people with different surnames that have recently been using the same address. In the other, there are only two, and they share the same surname. In the best possible case, the reviewer recognizes how the other information affects the risk, and they duplicate what the analytics have already done – flagging the first application as suspicious. In other cases, connections will be missed, resulting in a costly mistake. In real situations, automated reviews are able to compare each piece of information to thousands of others, making it more likely that second-guessing the analytics using the same data will be problematic. DO: Focus your most experienced and talented reviewers on creating fraud strategies. The best way to use their time and skill is to create a cycle where risk groups are defined (using analytics), a verification treatment is prescribed and used consistently, and the results are measured. With this approach, the outcome of every case is the result of deliberate action. When fraud occurs, it’s either because the case was miscategorized and received treatment that was too easy to discourage the criminal—or it was categorized correctly and the treatment wasn’t challenging enough. Gaining Value While there is a middle ground where manual review and skill can be a force-multiplier for strong analytics, my sense is that many organizations aren’t getting the best value from their most talented fraud practitioners. To improve this, businesses can start by understanding how analytics can help group customers based on levels of risk—not just one group but a few—where the number of good vs. fraudulent cases are understood. Decide how you want to handle each of those groups and reserve challenging treatments for the riskiest groups while applying easier treatments when the number of good customers per fraud attempt is very high. Set up a consistent waterfall process where customers either successfully verify, cascade to a more challenging treatment, or abandon the process. Focus your manual efforts on monitoring the process you’ve put in place. Start collecting data that shows you how both good and bad cases flow through the process. Know what types of challenges the bad guys are outsmarting so you can route them to challenges that they won’t beat so easily. Most importantly, have a plan and be consistent. Be sure to keep an eye out for a new post where we’ll talk about how this analytical approach can also help you grow your business. Contact us

If it looks like a bank and acts like a bank, there’s a good chance the company behind that financial services transaction may not actually be a bank – but a fintech. Born out of Silicon Valley, New York and tech hubs in between, fintechs have been categorically unfettered from regulation and driven by a focus on customer acquisition and revenue growth. Today, the fintech market represents hundreds of billions of dollars globally and has been disrupting financial services with the goal of delightful customer experiences and democratizing access to credit and banking. Their success has led many fintechs to update their strategy and growth targets and set their sites outside of core banking to other sectors including payments, alternative lending, insurance, capital markets, personal wealth management, alternative lending and others. Depending on the strategy, many are seeking a bank charter, or a partnership with a chartered financial institution to accomplish their new growth goals. Meanwhile, all this disruption has caught the attention of banks and credit unions who are keen to work with these marketplace lenders to grow deposits and increase fee-revenue streams. Historically, obtaining a bank charter was an onerous process, which led many fintechs to actively seek out partnerships with financial institutions in order to leverage their chartered status without the regulatory hurdles of becoming a bank. In fact, fintech and FI partnerships have boomed in the last few years, growing more than five times over the past decade. Gone are the days of the zero-sum game that benefits solely the bank or the fintech. Today, there are more than 30 partner banks representing hundreds of fintech relationships and financial services. These partnerships vary in size and scope from household names like Goldman Sachs, which powers the Apple credit card, to Hatch Bank, which has $68 million in assets and started with a single fintech partner, HM Bradley.[1] But which scenario is right for your fintech? Much of that depends on which markets and lines of business round out your growth strategy and revenue goals. Regardless of what framework you determine is right for your fintech, you need to work with partners who have access to the freshest data and models and a firm handle on the regulatory and compliance landscape. Experian can help you navigate the fintech regulatory environment and think through if partnering with a bank or seeking your own fintech charter is the best match for your growth plan. In the meantime, check out this new eBook for more information on the bank charter process and benefits, fintech-FI partnerships and the implications of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) new fintech charter. Read now Explore Fintech solutions   [1] https://a16z.com/2020/06/11/the-partner-bank-boom/

Earlier this year, we shared our predictions for five fraud threats facing businesses in 2021. Now that we’ve reached the midpoint of the year and economic recovery is underway, we’re taking another look at how these threats can impact businesses and consumers.   Putting a Face to Frankenstein IDs: Synthetic identity fraudsters will attempt to bypass fraud detection methods by using AI to combine facial characteristics from different people to form a new identity. Overexposure: As many as 80% of SSNs may have been exposed on the dark web, creating opportunities for account application fraud. The Heist: Surges in data breaches, advances in automation, expanded online banking services and vulnerabilities exposed from social engineering mistakes have lead to rises in account takeover fraud. Overstimulated: Opportunistic fraudsters may take advantage of ongoing relief payments by using stolen data from consumers. Behind the Times: Businesses with lackluster fraud prevention tools and insufficient online security technology will likely experience more attacks and suffer larger losses.   To learn more about upcoming fraud threats and how to protect your business, download our new infographic and check out Experian’s fraud prevention solutions. Download infographic Request a call

As stimulus-generated fraud wanes, we anticipate a return of more traditional forms of fraud, including account opening fraud. As businesses embrace the digital evolution and look ahead to responsible growth, it’s important to balance the customer experience with the risks associated with account opening fraud. Preventing account opening fraud requires a layered fraud and identity management strategy that allows you to approve good customers while keeping criminals out. With the right tools in place, you can optimize the customer experience while still keeping risk low. Download infographic Review your fraud strategy

Over the past year and a half, the development of digital identity has shifted the ways businesses interact with consumers. Companies across every industry have incorporated digital services, biometrics, and other verification tools to enhance the consumer experience without increasing risk.   Changing consumer expectations   A digital identity strategy is no longer a nice-to-have, it’s table stakes. Consumers expect to be recognized across platforms and have a seamless experience every time.   89% of consumers use mobile banking 80% of companies now have a customer recognition strategy in place 55% of banking customers say they plan to visit the bank branch less often moving forward   Businesses are responding to these changing expectations while working to grow during the economic recovery – trying to balance consumer experience with risk appetite and bottom-line goals. The present state of digital identity   Digital identity strategies require both standardization and interoperability. The first provides the ability to consistently capture data and characteristics that can be used to recognize a specific individual. The second allows businesses to resolve an identity to a specific person – recognizing a phone number, user ID and password, or a device – and use that information to determine if the user of the identity is in fact the identity owner.   There are some roadblocks on the road to a seamless digital identity strategy. Issues include a lack of consumer trust and an ambiguous regulatory landscape – creating friction on both ends of the equation.   Recipe for success   To succeed, businesses need a framework that can reliably use different combinations of physical and digital identity data to determine that the person behind the identity is a known, verified, and unique individual. A one-size-fits-all solution doesn’t exist. However, a layered approach allows businesses to modernize identity, providing the services consumers want and expect while remaining agile in an ever-changing environment.   In our newest white paper, developed in partnership with One World Identity, we explore the obstacles hindering digital identity management, and the best way to build a layered solution that is flexible, trustworthy, and inclusive.   To learn more, download our “Capturing the Digital Evolution Through a Layered Approach” white paper. Download white paper

Premier Awards Program Recognizes Breakthrough Financial Technology Products and Companies Experian’s Ascend Intelligence Services was selected as a winner of the “Consumer Lending Innovation Award” category in the fifth annual Fintech Breakthrough Awards conducted by Fintech Breakthrough, an independent market intelligence organization that recognizes the top companies, technologies and products in the global fintech market today. The Fintech Breakthrough Awards is the premier awards program founded to recognize the fintech innovators, leaders and visionaries from around the world in a range of categories, including digital banking, personal finance, lending, payments, investments, RegTech, InsurTech and many more. The 2021 Fintech Breakthrough Awards attracted more than 3,850 nominations from across the globe. One of the latest developments on Experian's trusted, award-winning Ascend platform, Ascend Intelligence Services empowers financial services firms with Experian’s revolutionary managed analytics solutions and services, delivered on a modern-tech AI platform. Ascend Intelligence Services includes rapid model development, seamless deployment, optimized decision strategies, ongoing performance monitoring and continuous retraining. The technology-enabled service uses a secure cloud-based AI platform to harness the power of machine learning, and deliver unique capabilities covering the entire credit lifecycle, through an easy-to-use web portal. “To stay ahead of the latest economic conditions, fintechs need high-quality analytical models running on large and varied data sets that empower them to act quickly and decisively. The breakthrough Ascend Intelligence Services platform answers this immediate market need,” said James Johnson, Managing Director, Fintech Breakthrough. “Congratulations to Experian and the Ascend team on winning our ‘Consumer Lending Innovation Award’ for 2021 with this game-changing solution.” “Data scientists are spending too much time on manual, repetitive and low value-add tasks, and organizations cannot afford to do this is in a state of constant change,” said Srikanth Geedipalli, Experian’s SVP Global Analytics/AI Products. “While building and deploying high-quality analytical models can be time-consuming and expensive, Ascend Intelligence Services streamlines this process by harnessing the power of machine learning and Experian’s rich data assets to drive better, faster and smarter decisions. We have been able to deliver analytical solutions to clients up to 4X faster, significantly improving decision automation rates and increasing approval rates by double digits. We are proud that Ascend Intelligence Services is being recognized as a breakthrough solution in the 2021 Fintech Breakthrough Awards program,” he said. Ascend Intelligence Services is comprised of four modules: Ascend Intelligence Services Challenger™ is a powerful, dynamic and collaborative model development service that enables Experian to rapidly build a model and quantify the benefit to business. Businesses can review, comment on and approve the model, all from within the web portal, while it’s being built. The resulting score is available for testing through an API endpoint and can be deployed in production with a few easy steps. Reports are customizable, downloadable and regulatory compliant. Ascend Intelligence Services Pulse™ is a proactive model monitoring and validation service, which aids companies in monitoring the health of models that drive their business decisions. Pulse, provides convenient dashboards that include a model health index, performance summary, stress-testing results, model risk management reporting, model health alerts and more. Additionally, Pulse automatically builds challengers for champion models, providing an estimated performance lift and financial benefit. Ascend Intelligence Services Strategy Advance™ is a powerful business strategy development service, enabling clients to make optimal lending decisions on their applicants. Strategy Advance uses Experian’s powerful optimization engine to build the right credit policy for clients, including sophisticated decision rules, model overlays and client specified knock-out rules. The resulting decision is available for testing through an API endpoint and can be deployed in production with a few easy steps. Ascend Intelligence Services Limit™ is a credit limit optimization service, enabling clients to make the right credit limit decisions at account origination and during account management. Limit uses Experian’s data, predictive risk and balance models and our powerful optimization engine to design the right credit limit strategy that maximizes product usage, while keeping losses low. The limit decision is available for testing through an API endpoint and can be deployed in production with a few easy steps. To learn more about how Ascend Intelligence Services can support your business, please explore our solutions page. Learn more For a list of all award winners selected for the Fintech Breakthrough Awards, read the full press release here.

The pandemic changed nearly everything – and consumer credit is no exception. Data, analytics, and credit risk decisioning are gaining an even more significant role as we grow closer to the end of the global crisis. Consumers face uneven roads to recovery, and while some are ready to spend again, others are still dealing with pandemic-related financial stress. We surveyed nearly 9,000 consumers and 2,700 businesses worldwide about how consumers are stabilizing their finances and businesses are returning to growth for our new Global Decisioning Report. In this report, we dive into: Key business priorities in 2021 Financial concerns for consumers How to navigate an uneven recovery Business priorities for the year ahead The importance of the online experience As we begin to near the end of the pandemic, businesses need to prioritize technology that enables a responsive, flexible, efficient and confident approach. This can be done by leveraging advanced data and analytics and integrating machine learning tools into model development. By investing in the right credit risk decisioning tools now, you can help ensure your future. Download the report

Fintechs have been an enormously disruptive force of change in financial services over the past 10 years. From digital payments, lending, insurance, digital banks, to personal finance and many other subsectors in between, fintechs have rapidly transformed everything from business and operating models to customer expectations. It’s this innovative drive that is celebrated and fostered each year at LendIt Fintech - a conference that brings together the fintech and financial services community to connect and reimagine the future of finance. And there may not be another year on record that called for the reimagining of finance more than 2020. Last year, the financial services industry – from consumers, fintechs and other subdivisions across the globe – endured many changes and challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But it also brought accelerated innovations; and with them, increased customer expectations and a focus on financial equity and inclusion. As consumer credit scores and demand for credit continue to rise, fintechs have an opportunity to re-examine what credit looks like in a post-COVID lending environment, and explore opportunities for growth in 2021. Experian’s Chief Product Officer Greg Wright tackled this topic at the recent Lendit Fintech conference, alongside Ibo Dusi of Happy Money, Myles Reaz of Upgrade and the Garry Reeder with the American Fintech Council. Watch the full panel discussion in the video below and hear more about: How panelists define data, alternative data and how it factors in their lending How alternative data can help drive financial inclusion and get to a ‘yes’ more often with consumers Using data to make the consumer experience more frictionless and seamless For more information about how Experian can help fintech organizations of all sizes reach their business and lending goals, visit our fintech solutions page. Explore Experian's Fintech Solutions

Experian recently announced its expansion into Employer Services and the release of a new suite of real-time income and employment verification products, Experian Verify™. The COVID-19 pandemic amplified lenders' need for deeper insights into a consumer's financial situation. At the same time, employers were flooded with record-breaking unemployment claims, while managing stay-at-home orders, income and employment verification fulfillment requests, and more. "We're committed to helping employers, businesses, lenders, and consumers on the road to recovery from the pandemic and beyond," said Alex Lintner, Group President Experian Consumer Information Services. "To support this, we're building two businesses: Experian Employer Services and Verification Solutions. These businesses will create meaningful change and provide our clients with competitive options to achieve their verification needs while helping improve access to credit for consumers." With Experian Verify, lenders can quickly and easily create a more complete picture of a consumer's financial situation by verifying an applicant's income and employment status. Powered by our growing network of payroll and proprietary employer data, Experian Verify offers lenders flexible and secure access to income and employment records. With a consumer's consent, lenders can request the information from Experian and an income and employment report can be delivered to lenders through an API, online Experian dashboard, or paired with an Experian credit report. "As we begin to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and employers are reopening their doors, we're confident we have assembled the best-of-the-best to help employers overcome their toughest challenges. We're committed to leveraging our combined capabilities and focus on high-touch customer service to deliver secure, scalable and transparent services to employers," said Michele Bodda, President of Experian Mortgage, Employer Services and Verification solutions. Visit us for more information on Experian Verify and Experian's Employer Services. Contact us

To grow in today’s economic climate and beat the competition, financial institutions need to update their acquisition and cross-sell strategies. By doing so, they are able to drive up conversions, minimize risk, and ultimately connect consumers with the right offers at the right time. Businesses and consumers are spending more time online than ever before, with 40% of consumers increasing the number of businesses they visit online. They’ve also made it clear that they expect easy, frictionless transactions with their providers. This includes new accounts and offers of credit – creating the need for better delivery systems. Effective targeting and conversion come down to more than just direct mail and email subject lines, especially now in a volatile economy where consumers are seeking appropriate products for their current situation. Be the first to meet consumers’ needs by leveraging the freshest data, advanced analytics, and automated decision systems. For example, when a consumer tries to open a checking account, the system can initiate a “behind-the-scenes” real-time prescreen request while assessing information needed to open the deposit account. The financial institution can then see if the consumer qualifies for overdraft protection, refinancing offers, loans, credit cards, and more. By performing the pre-approval process in seconds, financial institutions can be sure that they're making the right offers to the right customer, and doing it at the right time. All of this helps to increase the offer acceptance rate, improving customer retention, and maximizing customer account life-time value. The pandemic upended a lot of the ways that your businesses run day-to-day – from where you work to how you (better) engage with customers. Arguably, some of the changes have been long overdue, particularly the acceleration to digital and better customer acquisition strategies. Ahead lies the opportunity to grow – strategies enacted now will determine the extent of that opportunity. To learn more about how Experian can help you assess your prescreen strategy and grow, contact us today. Request a call

The surge in digital demand over the past year reinforced the deep connection between recognition, fraud prevention and the online customer experience. As businesses transformed their operations to accommodate the rapidly growing volume of digital transactions, consumer expectations for easy, secure interactions increased at an even faster pace. That meant less tolerance for the interruptions caused by security and risk controls. We surveyed more than 9,000 consumers and 2,700 businesses worldwide about this connection for our 2021 Global Identity and Fraud Report. This year’s report dives into: Business priorities for the year ahead Why the digital customer experience remains siloed Consumer preferences that impact the digital customer journey Pandemic-era digital activities that have changed consumer expectations As we move forward into the rest of 2021 it’s crucial that businesses continue to focus on fraud prevention. In order to implement an effective fraud strategy that also makes it easier for customers to engage, businesses need to move away from a one-size-fits-all approach and focus on applying the right level of protection to each and every transaction. Download the report Review your fraud strategy

The sharp uptick in fraud that coincided with the digital evolution made it clear that banks, credit unions, and fintechs need to invest in a strategy that utilizes identity layers to keep their customers and their finances safe. The steady rise in fraud over the last several years spiked—payment fraud rose 70% last year and is expected to increase by 95% in 2021—making it more challenging than ever to address the fraud threat while meeting increasing customer expectations. The rising fraud threat 2020 saw a rapid influx of customers using digital channels and the amount of data flowing into financial systems. There’s been a seismic shift, and we’re not going back. According to a recent study, 80% of consumers now prefer to manage their finances digitally, leaving the door open for fraudsters to take advantage of digital newbies. The increase in online activity corresponded with criminal activity. The rates of synthetic identity, account opening, and account takeover fraud have risen as fraudsters’ tactics have evolved. 80% of fraud losses now come from synthetic identities In 2020 the rate of new account credit card fraud attempts rose 48% Account takeover accounted for 54% of all fraud attacks in 2020 Fraudsters will continue to take advantage of current conditions, moving from stimulus-related fraud back to more traditional forms of financial theft, and financial institutions must adapt in turn with robust identity layers. Resolving the identity threat In our recent white paper, developed in partnership with One World Identity, we explore how businesses can address the fraud threat. It requires a multilayered identity proofing strategy for both onboarding and ongoing authentication. By doing this, financial institutions can gain a holistic view of consumers and their associated risks, decreasing friction while enabling robust fraud protection. To learn more, download our “Improving Fraud by Increasing Identity Layers” white paper. Download white paper

For the last several months, Experian has participated as the only credit bureau in the pilot of the electronic Consent Based Social Security Number (SSN) Verification (eCBSV) service. As we move forward to general rollout and expanded availability later this year, it’s time to review the benefits of eCBSV and how it helps businesses prevent synthetic identity fraud.   Service and program overview The eCBSV service combats synthetic identity fraud by comparing data provided electronically by approved financial institutions against the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) database in real time. This service helps financial institutions verify SSNs more efficiently and enables improved experiences for identifying legitimate or possibly synthetic identities applying for your products.   The verification process begins with consent from the SSN holder – and with eCBSV this consent is provided electronically rather than via a wet signature. Then, the SSN is checked against the SSA database to validate the SSN, name, and date of birth combination are or are not a match. The verification will also indicate if the SSN is listed as deceased with the SSA. Together, these factors can help flag whether or not an identity is synthetic.   By managing this process electronically, it is faster, more secure, and more efficient than before, offering an improved experience for consumers and the financial institutions that service them.   Layering solutions While eCBSV is an excellent step forward in the fight against the rising threat of synthetic identity fraud, a layered fraud mitigation strategy is still necessary. It’s only by layering solutions that financial institutions can accurately identify different types of fraud and provide them with the correct treatment, which is especially important when it comes to rooting out fraud when it’s already embedded in a portfolio.   To learn more about how Experian is helping to combat synthetic identity fraud and how eCBSV can benefit your financial institution, request a call. Request a call

Preventing fraud losses requires an understanding of each individual fraud type—including third-party, first-party, synthetic identity, and account takeover fraud—and how they differ from one another. It’s only with a multi-layered fraud strategy that businesses can adequately detect and treat each type of fraud while maintaining the customer experience. When’s the last time you reviewed your existing fraud strategy? Download infographic Review your fraud strategy

Experian is proud to announce, for the second year in a row, we have been named to the global Fintech Leaders list, placing in the top 20 for 2021. The list and adjoining report are released annually by international research organization, the Center for Financial Professionals (CeFPro). In addition to placing 19th on the list, Experian also placed in the Credit Risk category. The Center for Financial Professionals’ Fintech Leaders 2021 Report is one of the most rigorous programs that rank fintech industry leaders. The report’s coverage includes evaluating top fintech companies, solution providers, and vendors. The results are usually based on gathered surveys from end-users, practitioners, and subject matter experts. CeFPro’s report comes from the group’s market analysis and original research, which are backed by an advisory board that consists of 60 international industry professionals. Andreas Simou, CeFPro’s Managing Director, shared that the CeFPro board and voting members recognized Experian within the fintech survey as leaders for their data, decisioning and analytical capabilities. Simou said, "Experian cements its place on the Fintech Leaders List, and has once again been very highly regarded, as a leading player within credit risk, most notably for their subject-matter expertise and excelling within the areas of data management and modelling,” he said. “We are honored to once again be recognized as a Fintech Leader by CeFPro and the global Fintech marketplace,” said Jon Bailey, Vice President for Fintech at Experian. “We are committed to supporting the Fintech community and we will continue to invest and innovate to help our clients solve problems, create opportunities, and promote financial inclusion,” Bailey said.