As a global leader in providing credit-decisioning information, analytical tools and marketing services to organizations and consumers, Experian is no stranger to telecommunications or to TRMA. In fact, the current TRMA home page reflects this connection, listing Experian as TRMA’s 2009 Best In Class Affiliate Award recipient and leader atop the Fall, 2010 Affiliate scorecard. Finding treasure in Vegas More importantly, however, the page reminds visitors that TRMA’s primary goal is “reducing fraud and uncollectibles in the telecom industry.” Toward that end, they’ve put together a dynamic, information-rich conference for February 22-23 entitled “Sailing towards Treasured Results.” This year, several Experian executives – including myself – will have the privilege of contributing knowledge and expertise to the proceedings. Get connected before, during and after TRMA In these days before the event, I’ll virtually introduce you to each of Experian’s TRMA speakers and give you the opportunity to learn more about them and their topics. During the conference, as time permits, some will be tweeting and blogging their thoughts, opinions and observations. They’ll analyze and unpack conference developments, and share their analysis with our followers and readers. Stop wondering, start following We expect a lot of actionable information from TRMA. So if you aren’t following us on Twitter (@experiancredit) or checking this site regularly, before, during or after the event would be the ideal time to start. You’ll gain a lot of insights from people who really understand telecom’s unique credit challenges and opportunities. And if you're attending TRMA, I certainly hope to see you there.

By: Kari Michel In January, Experian announced the inclusion of positive rental data from its RentBureau division into the traditional credit file. This is great news for an estimated 50 million underbanked consumers - everyone from college students and recent graduates to immigrants - to build credit with continuous on-time rental payments. With approximately 1/3 of Americans renting, lenders who are using VantageScore will benefit from the inclusion of RentBureau data into the score calculation.  VantageScore from Experian is able to both enhance its predictive ability for those that can already be scored as well as provide scores for those that previously could not be scored. With the inclusion of RentBureau data, 34% of thin file consumers increased their score from an ‘F’ (VantageScore 501 – 599) to a ‘D’ (VantageScore 600 – 699). For those consumers that did not have a prior credit history, 70% of them were able to be scored after the inclusion of RentBureau data into the credit repository.  As a result, fewer consumers will get a “no hit” returned to lenders during a credit inquiry. Lenders will now have a comprehensive understanding of a consumer’s total monthly obligations to assist with offering credit to emerging consumers.

I love a good analogy, and living in Southern California, lately I’ve been thinking a lot about earthquakes, and how lenders might want to start thinking like seismologists when considering the risk levels in their portfolios. Currently, scientists that study earthquakes review mountains of data around fault movement, tidal forces, even animal behavior, all in an attempt to find a concrete predictor of ‘the big one’. Small tremors are inputs, but the focus is on predicting and preparing for the large shock and impact of large earthquakes. Credit risk modeling, conversely, seems to focus on predicting the tremors, (risk scores that predict the risk of individual default) and less so the large-shock risk to the portfolio. So what are lenders doing to forecast ‘the big one’?  Lenders are building sophisticated models that contemplate the likelihood of the big event – developing risk models and econometric models that look at loan repayment, house prices, unemployment rates – all in an attempt to be ahead of the credit version of ‘the big one’.  This type of model and perspective is at a nascent stage for many lenders, but like the issues facing the people of Southern California, preparing for the big-one is an essential part of every lender’s planning in today’s economy.

Exciting research leveraging Experian’s fraud analytics and credit risk modeling are now enabling deposit institutions to understand the impacts of first party fraud and identity theft on their portfolios. Historically, deposit institutions have not considered application fraud to be a major concern and legislation regarding overdraft fees and the opt-in provision for overdraft services will reduce a deposit customer’s ability to spend the bank’s money; however, a determined thief can still: kite checks to commit first party fraud perpetrate an account takeover/identity theft   The result is that deposit institutions will continue to face losses that can be prevented using fraud best practices. The challenge for the institution is knowing whether it is facing first party fraud or identity theft. Increasingly, deposit institutions are turning to Experian to analyze customers that create losses early in the account life cycle in order to make the right modifications to their acquisitions strategies.  Using a combination of fraud analytics built to target specific types of fraud trends, deposit institutions can get a clear picture of the type of behavior that is generating their losses. This type of analysis is quickly climbing the list of fraud best-practices. Armed with the right diagnosis, deposit institutions can respond by prioritizing the right set of fraud alerts.    

We’ve written a number of posts suggesting how telecom and cable providers can use reliable consumer credit data to improve acquisition, prospecting, retention and risk mitigation, but we haven’t yet covered collections.  So here is the first in what will probably be several collections-related entries. Please let us know what you think. What’s in your data mix? As you know, the ranks of “skips” or delinquent accounts have grown considerably over the past few years. This phenomenon has compelled many telecom and cable companies to reevaluate the quality and use of their skip tracing data. What they’ve discovered is that contact data alone—current address, previous addresses, land line and cell phone numbers—may not be enough to recover lost payments. Which brings us to the missing ingredient. Reliable consumer credit data Combining fresh contact data AND reliable consumer credit data enables you to recapture more funds from more delinquent accounts. Adding credit history to the mix broadens your view of consumers’ overall financial health, allowing you easily distinguish between those who can pay and those who can’t. What the data can reveal Assuming your consumer credit data comes from a reputable, knowledgeable source, you’ll be able to immediately learn a lot about your customers’ behaviors and circumstances, including: Attempts to open a new account while they’re still overdue with you Recently declared bankruptcies Once delinquent customers who now have the ability to pay Tying in “triggers” Some communications providers use collection tools called “triggers.” When tied to a consumer credit report, triggers alert you to new information, including cell or landline number, address, employer, or changes in financial status, such as when bankcard funds become newly available. Quality credit data + tools like triggers + a reliable data partner = a surefire recipe for collections success. Collections not your focus? Check out the post on “Using Data Intelligence to Reduce Churn, Build Loyalty and Keep the Right Customers.”

By: Kristan Frend Imagine you’re on the #1 ranked relay swim team at the World Championships and you’re leading off. You finish your leg of the race with the team in first place. As your third teammate approaches the wall, your team is in first by a full body length. You’re on pace to set a new world record. Yet the anchor of your team is nowhere to be found, ultimately resulting in your team being disqualified.   If only your fourth teammate would have made it to the blocks in time…. When you take a step back and look at your fraud risk management solutions, do you ever feel like you have all of the tools and processes available yet feel like the anchor is missing? Perhaps it’s time to reexamine your internal resources. You may have an assembly of sophisticated and robust online fraud detection tools from vendors, but you may be missing a critical piece if you’re not also effectively leveraging internal data. Through our work with clients, we’re found that it is not uncommon for organizations to manage the customer relationship through different departments or silos within the organization.   All too often there is less than optimal coordination between these functional areas in taking advantage of their own internal negative data to combat application fraud. Additionally some organizations may have negative internal data but do not incorporate the check within their verification or risk based authentication tool, creating multiple steps and operational inefficiencies. One of the ways to overcome some of these issues is by incorporating internal negative data within an automated front-end check.  Once loss data is loaded into a historical database, the next time that name, phone, address, driver’s license or SSN reappears on a new application, the data element is immediately identified as one associated with a previous loss. The negative data is securely stored for only your organization’s use and is not shared with users outside of your organization.

TRMA’s Spring Conference scheduled for February 22-23, 2011 As you probably already know, the mission of the Telecommunications Risk Management Association (TRMA) is to “drive positive change in order to reduce fraud and optimize risk for the benefit of the industry, individual members and paying customers.” As part of that mission, TRMA is committed to bringing together risk management professionals several times a year for information-sharing forums. The organization’s 2011 Spring Conference is scheduled for February 22-23, 2011 at the Treasure Island Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. Experian representation at the TRMA Conference At Experian, we’re committed to investing in new technologies in order to offer our communications customers the most advanced fraud prevention and risk management tools. Being a part of TRMA helps us better understand how we can best respond to existing and emerging requirements to one of the key industries we serve. And it allows us to share what we see as up-and-coming trends as well as new developments in risk management. Experian Decision Analytics personnel are scheduled to present at TRMA’s 2011 Spring Conference, as follows: Jim Nowell, Business Consultant TRMA Learning Lab – The SimTel Business Game Tuesday, February 22, 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Jim’s lively Learning Lab will have several small teams of risk managers working together to solve problems for a fictitious Telco portfolio. The results of the game will be delivered on Wednesday morning at 10:45 AM.   Linda Haran, Senior Director, Strategy and Marketing Economic Update Wednesday, February 23, 9:30 – 10:30 a.m.   Linda serves as one-half of this panel, reviewing the historical linkages between credit conditions and the economy with an emphasis on how they relate to telecommunications.   Greg Carmean, Program Manager, Small Business Credit Share Small Business Panel Wednesday, February 23, 11:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.   Greg serves as one-half of this panel, discussing best practices for small business risk assessment, such as employing a blend of consumer and commercial data to combat fraud.   Jeff Bernstein, Executive Strategic Consultant Leveraging Technology to Maximize Returns on Outsourced Collections Wednesday, February 23, 2:00 – 2:45 p.m.   Jeff serves as one-half of this panel, discussing ways to avoid the “perfect storm” of rising delinquency rates, lower liquidation and staff drowning in the tidal wave of bad debt. We hope to see you there More details on each of these presentations will follow this post in the coming week. We look forward to seeing you at TRMA’s Spring Conference. If you can’t attend (or even if you can), be sure to follow us on Twitter for live conference updates, and check back here for post-conference blog posts.

For companies that regularly extend credit, the need to establish an identity theft protection program is finally here. After almost two years of delay, the Red Flags Rule is now in force. For readers of the Experian Decision Analytics blog, the Rule has been a familiar topic since passage. If you want to skip ahead to find out what you need to know, we’ve made it easy by boiling it down to three main things. (You’ll find the “3 Things Telcos Should Know About the Rule” towards the end.) However, some background might be helpful to better understand the issues behind the delay. Discussion about Red Flags requirements first began when Congress passed the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act in 2003, requiring the Federal Trade Commission to write and enforce the Rule as the nation’s consumer protection agency. The Red Flags Rule was actually enacted on Jan 1, 2008, but enforcement was delayed until December 31, 2010 to better clarify the terms of compliance and who had to follow them. Why the Red Flags Rule matters A “red flag” is something that signals possible identity theft, including any suspicious activity suggesting crooks might be using stolen information to establish service. The regulation now requires companies to develop a written “red flags program” to detect, prevent and minimize damage that could result from a security breach. Establishing a Red Flags program Companies that regularly extend credit or use consumer reports in connection with a credit transaction need to have a risk-based security program in place. The program must detail the process for detecting red flags, describe how to respond to prevent and mitigate identity theft, and spell out how to keep the program current.   Decision to delay: the definition of “creditor” At the center of the FTC’s decision to delay enforcement was a broad definition Congress gave to the term “creditor.” The Rule broadly captured a number of non-financial companies (many of them small businesses) that didn’t know whether it applied to them, and if they did, didn’t have time or expertise to establish proper procedures to comply. And failure to comply could lead to costly fines or civil actions. New Red Flags exemptions To resolve the issue, Congress approved legislation providing exemptions for businesses that provide goods or services and then accept payment later. The bill redefines the term “creditor” to apply only to businesses that advance funds to, or on behalf of a customer, based upon an obligation to repay. 3 things telcos should know about the Red Flags Rule: 1. Telcos are covered by the Rule For companies, like telcos, that obtain consumer reports, directly or indirectly, in connection with a credit transaction the requirement to comply hasn’t changed. In fact, under regulatory guidance, the FTC specifically lists telecommunications companies among those who need to comply. 2. Your company needs a written Red Flags program The FTC Rule requires that organizations identify and address the “red flags” that could indicate identity theft and update the program periodically. The program must address certain “covered accounts,” which includes a consumer account with frequent transactions or those that have a risk of identity theft.  An annual report must also be created for senior management or the board of directors.   3. How to comply is up to you The good news is that the Rule doesn't require any specific practice or procedures. Companies have the flexibility to tailor compliance programs to the nature of their business and the risks they face. The FTC will assess compliance based upon whether a company is taking “reasonable policies and procedures” to prevent identity theft.    

Let’s face it – not all knowledge based authentication (KBA) is created equal. I, too, have read horror stories of consumers forced to answer questions about a deceased relative or ex-spouse, or KBA sessions that went on far too long for anyone’s benefit. I have to attribute this to vendor inexperience and a lack of consulting with clients. An experienced vendor will use a fraud best practice such as a fraud analytics model to determine that some consumers do not even need questions and then a “Progressive Question” feature, which uses consumer performance on an initial question set to determine if it is necessary for the consumer to answer additional questions. This way, the true consumer completes the process quickly, improving the customer experience. The product of choice should also use a question mix that balances three factors: ·         how easily the true consumer can answer the question; ·         the fraud separation of the question (effectively the measured delta over time between how well true consumers answer the question vs. how well fraudsters do); ·         how many consumers overall the question can be generated.  A list of hundreds of possible questions doesn’t mean much if the questions can only be generated for one quarter of one percent of the population, as is the case for something like airplane ownership or pilot’s license. Ultimately, out of wallet questions should be generated for a large part of the population, easily answered by the true consumer but difficult for a fraudster; and not offensive or what a consumer would consider “creepy” (such as their child’s birthday or name). Well designed questions will be personal but not intrusive and mindful of personal relationships that may have changed.  The purpose of a knowledge based authentication session is risk management and/or consumer authentication for fraud prevention and compliance purposes – not to cause the loss of business because the fraud tool crossed the line in the mind of your customer.

Like all companies seeking to generate new revenue, wireless providers continually strive to expand their creditworthy universe of applicants and prospects, while shrinking or eliminating risk. Compared with other industries, however, telecom tends to have a disproportionate number of no-hit and unscorable thin files—primarily young adults and immigrants, emerging consumers, and alternative-finance transactors. The main reason is that these individuals typically acquire cell phones well before credit cards, mortgages or other loan products, and thus, fly under the radar of traditional credit scoring. Micro-segmentation—a paradox with a payoff Experian has found that, despite the lack of documented credit history, these often-ignored segments contain many potentially profitable accounts. Narrowing your focus (through targeted attributes and micro-segmentation) can actually expand your universe of prospects, creating a whole new world of opportunity that enables you to: Grow your portfolio without increasing your risk Match new customers with the appropriate deposit and payment structure Build trust, loyalty and long-term value Many companies also integrate market data, dealer data or other internal records to refine micro-segmentation efforts. Others enlist credit-reporting agencies to help combine traditional and alternative data sets to predict future performance. One or both methods can yield highly favorable results. Using high-quality information from proven, reliable sources enables wireless companies to segment information in innovative and profitable ways. In fact, when providers successfully expand their creditworthy customer universe, high-quality data is usually the bright and shining star. To learn more, read a related post about the role of data quality in effective customer acquisitions.

The passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 increased competition in the telecom industry. These days, nearly every telecommunications company is offering, or considering offering, bundled services to attract new customers, increase retention of current customers, or both. Every time I turn around, there seems to be a new variety of bundled services. Quality, ease of use, and the right price points in a market, make these bundles very attractive to consumers. Most offers are directed at consumers, but the industry is looking for emerging market spaces. AT&T just announced it would be offering its U-verse IPTV product and its via-resale DirecTV service, bundled together with landline voice, wireless voice and broadband Internet services, to the small business market. The company explained this package might be attractive for small businesses with client waiting rooms. Bundle of joy While there are a few risks involved in offering bundled services (a topic we will explore in a future post), by and large, the benefits of bundled services are many: 1. Enhanced customer loyalty - Customers are less likely to go to the trouble of unbundling services in order to switch providers. - Customers feel more connected to your organization on multiple fronts. (Both of these help to shield you from competitive displacement attempts.)   2. Simplified customer experience - Consumers enjoy the convenience of bundled services, which allows them to manage multiple services with a single billing statement and a single payment. - When money is tight, bundle customers will generally pay the entire bill, as opposed to paying only part of the bill.     3. Save provider time and money - Bundled billing reduces the number of bills sent each billing cycle, which means less paperwork for you and your customers. - Fewer bills sent also means fewer payments to process.     4. Penetrate new markets - Partnering with a company, who has a bigger footprint in a particular market, allows you to leverage that partner’s existing customer base. - Bundling also can help you penetrate a new market with more competitive price points.     5. Easier and less risky up-selling path for larger share of consumer products and services - The partner, already having an established relationship with the consumer, will have an easier time up selling your product offerings to their customer base.     If you’re thinking about getting into the bundling game — or expanding on your current bundling strategy — you need to know that getting bundling right is no easy task. Check back for future blog posts in which I’ll discuss what makes a “smart” bundled offering, as well as how to ensure you’re offering the right bundle to the right customers. In the meantime, if there are specific topics in the realm of bundling you would like to see addressed, please be sure to comment on this post.

As our newly elected officials begin to evaluate opportunities to drive economic growth in 2011, it seems to me that the role of lenders in motivating consumer activity will continue to be high on the list of both priorities and actions that will effectively move the needle of economic expansion. From where I sit, there are a number of consumer segments that each hold the potential to make a significant impact in this economy. For instance, renters with spotless credit, but have not been able or confident enough to purchase a home, could move into the real estate market, spurring growth and housing activity. Another group, and one I am specifically interested in discussing, are the so called ‘fallen angels’ - borrowers who previously had pristine track records, but have recently performed poorly enough to fall from the top tiers of consumer risk segments. I think the interesting quality of ‘fallen angels’ is not that they don’t possess the motivation needed to push economic growth, but rather the supply and opportunity for them to act does not exist. Lenders, through the use of risk scores and scoring models, have not yet determined how to easily identify the ‘fallen angel’ amongst the pool of higher-risk borrowers whose score tiers they now inhabit. This is a problem that can be solved though – through the use of credit attributes and analytic solutions, lenders can uncover these up-side segments within pools of potential borrowers – and many lenders are employing these assets today in their efforts to drive growth. I believe that as tools to identify and lend to untapped segments such as the ‘fallen angels’ develop, these consumers will inevitably turn out to be key contributors to any form of economic recovery.  

Remember the new customers or subscribers you brought on last year, and how great they looked on paper?  High credit score, low revolving debt—clean as a whistle, solid as a rock. How do those stellar profiles look right now, in 2011? Still solid? Or has their luster recently faded? In today’s uncertain environment, it’s both a legitimate and prudent question credit departments should often ask. Regular portfolio reviews: illuminate, eliminate Because of the financial relationship between your company and its customers, you have a right to make “soft” inquiries to uncover new credit-quality risk. Red Flag indicators include a recent bankruptcy, an increase in late payments, and other credit obligations staying past due longer. Whatever the changes are, you’re entitled to know them, and regular portfolio reviews are an effective way to illuminate (and eliminate) risk. The other side of the coin Thankfully, telecom/cable credit trends are not all gloom and doom. Many people have actually improved their scores and are good candidates for better terms, better rates and cross-sell opportunities that can increase your wallet share. Of course, once you land good customers, keeping them happy becomes paramount. Increasing the number of products or services they use can make customers “stickier” and more loyal. So if, as mentioned in my previous post, acquisition is about prospect quality (not quantity), then retention and risk reduction are about regular portfolio reviews and keeping people happy. Supplementing reviews by letting customers know you value and appreciate their business, will help them stay put when pesky competitors come knocking.

More prospects equal more profits, right? Not necessarily. But surprisingly, companies in every industry (including cable and telecom) routinely burn acquisition dollars as if it is. The reality is that only more qualified prospects can lead to more profitable campaigns, making acquisitions a clear case of quality besting quantity. But why? No substitute for quality Engaging unqualified prospects is an unprofitable exercise requiring time and resources that are better spent on those who are ready, willing and able to buy from you. Benefits of an effective acquisition strategy include greater: Resource efficiency—less time, money and energy wasted on no-payback prospects Brand loyalty and higher lifetime value—by accurately matching consumers to products they relate to and desire Profitability and less bad debt—this one is probably obvious Fishing where the (best) fish are So how should a profit-minded telecom or cable company identify highly qualified prospects and invite them into the fold? Using a credit-score threshold, where anyone possessing the target score receives an offer, is one method. The benefit is simplicity. One disadvantage is unnecessary risk, as credit score is just one factor reflecting an individual’s creditworthiness. Another possibility is analyzing your best customers’ profiles or most profitable underwriting policies and integrating profit-building criteria into your campaign. This takes a little more effort but the payback potential is higher. Tapping into available sources Many companies find public records a rich source of decisioning data. Others have discovered that adding consumer-credit information to their acquisition formula not only improves prospect quality, it also reduces on-boarding costs. Derogatory payment information, revolving debt levels or unacceptable debt-to-income ratios will all surface in the process, informing and improving your credit management decisions. (Note: using credit data to assess risk requires you to make a firm offer of credit, according to FCRA guidelines.) You’ll do a lot of prospecting in 2011, so remember: when it comes to acquiring new customers, more isn’t better. Better is better. And using reliable, high-quality data is one way to ensure the impact and return of every marketing dollar.

Experian Decision Analytics has recorded increased demand from the marketplace for service integrations with interactive voice response (IVR), a phone technology that allows for automated detection of both voice and touch–tones. In the past quarter, there has been a more than 70 percent increase in IVR interest and it continues to grow. Why is there a demand for knowledge based authentication through IVR? Besides consumer acceptance of out of wallet questions, there is a dramatic increase in the need for remote authentication and fraud analytics that are accurate, not a burden to the consumer, cost–effective for organizations and part of an overall risk based authentication approach. Consumers stay connected in a number of ways — phone, online, mobile and short message service (SMS) — and are demanding the means to remain safe without compromising convenience. Knowledge based authentication through IVR provides this safety. Organizations must consider all the tools at their disposal to keep consumer data protected while preserving and promoting a positive customer experience. Given the interactive nature of knowledge based authentication, it is quite adaptable to various customer access channels, such as IVR, and it enables full automation of both inbound and outbound authentication calls. We know from both our own experience and from working with clients that consumers are more connected, more mobile and more networked than ever before - and fraud trends demonstrate this increases risk. As consumers continue to expand online profiles and fraud artists continue to seek out victims, successful fraud prevention will become paramount to financial survival. Leveraging products already in use by combining the technology capitalizes on an existing investment and is good business.