The AutoCheck® Elite program enables auto dealerships to better understand the vehicles in their market. And, right now, making strategic decisions about stocking the right inventory and marketing to the right consumers has never been more important.

In the Q1 2021 Market Trends Review, we explore the average age myth and highlight other ways to inform aftermarket strategy.

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

As quarantine restrictions lift and businesses reopen, there is still uncertainty in the mortgage market. Research shows that more than two million households face foreclosure as moratoriums expire. And with regulators, like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), urging mortgage servicers to prepare for an expected surge in homeowners needing assistance, lenders need the right resources as well. One of the resources mortgage lenders rely on to help gain greater insight into their borrower’s financial picture is income and employment verification. The challenge, however, is striking the right balance between gaining the insights needed to support lending decisions and creating a streamlined, frictionless mortgage process. There are three main barriers on the path to a seamless and digital verification process. Legacy infrastructure Traditional verification solutions tend to rely on old technology or processes. Whether a lender’s verification strategy is centered around a solution built on older technology or a manual process, the time to complete a borrower verification can vary from taking a day to weeks. Borrowers have grown accustomed to digital experiences that are simple and frictionless and experiencing a drawn out, manual verification process is likely to impact loyalty to the lender’s brand. Stale employment and income data The alternative to a manual process is an instant hit verification solution, with the aim to create a more seamless borrower experience. However, lenders may receive stale borrower income and employment data back as a match. Consumer circumstances can change frequently in today’s economic environment and, depending on the data source the lender is accessing, data may be out of date or simply incorrect. Decisioning based on old information is problematic since it can increase origination risk. Cost and complexity Lenders that use manual processes to verify information are adding to their time to close and ultimately, their bottom line by way of time and resources. Coupled with pricing increases, lenders are paying more to put their borrowers through a cumbersome and sometimes lengthy process to verify employment and income information. How can mortgage lenders avoid these common pitfalls in their verification strategy? By seeking verification solutions focused on innovation, quality of data, and that are customer-centric. The right tool, such as Experian VerifyTM, can help provide a seamless customer experience, reduce risk, and streamline the verification process. Learn more

Expanded FCRA regulated data can help lenders extend more credit, and ensure consumers have access to affordable credit when they need it.

Experian's Q1 2021 State of the Automotive Finance Market report explores the benefits of leveraging both national and regional data when strategizing.

The tax gap—the difference between what taxpayers should pay and what they actually pay on time—can have a substantial impact on states’ budgets. Tax agencies and other state departments are responsible for helping states manage their budgets by minimizing expected revenue shortfalls. Underreported income is a significant budget complication that continues to frustrate even the most effective tax agencies, until the right tools are brought into play.   The Problem Underreporting is a large, complex issue for agencies. The IRS currently estimates the annual tax gap at $441 billion. There are multiple factors that comprise that total, but the most prevalent is underreporting, which represents 80% of the total tax gap. Of that, 54% is due to underreporting of individual income tax. In addition to being the largest contributor to the tax gap, underreporting is also extremely challenging to identify out of the millions of returns being filed. With 85% of taxes owed correctly reported and paid, finding underreporting can be like trying to locate a needle in the proverbial haystack. Making this even more challenging is the limited resources available for auditing returns, which makes efficiency key. The Solution Data, combined with artificial intelligence (AI) equals efficient detection. The problem with trying to detect which returns are most likely to have underreported income is similar to many other challenges Experian has solved with AI. Partnerships between Experian and state agencies combine what we know about consumers with what their agency knows about their population. We can take the data and use AI to separate the signal from the noise, finding opportunities to recoup lost revenue. Read our case study on how Experian was able to help an agency identify instances of underreporting, detecting an estimated $80 million annual lost revenue from underreported income. Download case study Contact us

Trends can vary based on location. In the Q1 2021 State of the Automotive Finance Market report, we took a look at market share nationally and regionally.

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

The COVID-19 pandemic has created shifting economic conditions and rapidly evolving consumer preferences. Lenders must keep up by re-evaluating their strategies to accelerate growth and beat the competition. Here's how AI/ML can help your organization evolve post-COVID-19: With the democratization of AI/ML, lenders of all sizes can now use this technology to grow their lending and optimize for strategic growth. Register for our upcoming webinar to see how lenders like Elevate have incorporated this new technology into their business processes. Register now

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

AutoCheck® is a powerful vehicle history report that helps take the unknown out of the used car buying process, so you can confidently understand, compare, and select a vehicle that is right for you. Only AutoCheck vehicle history reports include the patented AutoCheck Score, which summarizes vehicle history data into an easy to understand ‘Score” along with an equivalent score range. The patented AutoCheck Score predicts the likelihood a car will be on the road in 5 years. It compares vehicles of similar age and class based on a scale of 1-100. The AutoCheck Score is based on a proprietary model to help you understand a vehicles predicted reliability as it pertains to age, number of owners, accidents and other vehicle history factors. Watch this video to learn more about the AutoCheck vehicle history report and how it can help you identify hidden damage and accident events to avoid costly mistakes. Contact us to learn more about becoming an AutoCheck subscriber.

For credit unions of all sizes, choosing a strategic partner with the right tools, capabilities, and industry expertise to support growth while minimizing expenses is a decision critical to the bottom line. This is especially important, since the goal of achieving sustainable growth has continued to be a trending topic for credit unions since the start of the pandemic. According to this CU Times analysis of NCUA data, the fourth quarter of 2020 showed that high overhead per assets was the main factor holding down net income, and credit unions with less than $1 billion in assets fared the worst. These high overhead costs kept margins low and served to be a key contributing factor in gauging a credit union’s profitability. Overcoming this problem lies not only in improving operational efficiency, but in seeking out partners that can provide innovative insight and “right-sized,” scalable solutions to help credit unions effectively grow at a strategic pace. The less money a credit union spends earning each dollar, the more operationally efficient and resource-savvy it becomes—which in turn generates more value for both the credit union and its members. So how can a credit union successfully assess a potential partner’s ability to help them achieve goals for sustainable growth? Asking three key questions can reveal a potential partner’s operational prowess and their ability to understand and offer the right solutions tailored for an individual credit union’s need. Minimize Overhead with a Partner Who Can Help Accelerate and Support Sustainable Growth: Evaluation Questions to Ask 1. Does my potential partner offer solutions to ease the strain on staff, or help automate time-consuming, repetitive tasks and processes? Automation is not only for large credit unions. Employees at credit unions with $4 billion and less in assets often wear many hats and manage the full spectrum of credit activities, leaving leaders to ponder how much time staff is spending on rote, manual tasks throughout the end-to-end member lifecycle. As a result, credit unions are turning to automated decisioning to streamline repetitive tasks and meet increasing member expectations, while also reducing risk. To drive sustainable growth, credit unions will want to look at current processes as a means of measuring efficiency. Can existing programs handle growth to scale in all areas of the business? How can digital lending automation be increased and free up more time for staff to focus attention where it is needed most, such as high-value engagements with members and delivering a personalized member experience? Can self-service tools save your credit union valuable time and increase employee satisfaction? 2. Does my potential partner have access to the right data, advanced analytics and technology to help optimize credit decisioning? As credit unions consider different ways to minimize overhead and accelerate growth, the last few years have shown that automation, coupled with advanced analytics and technology, has taken on a second wave of focus and intense interest. A significant opportunity pertaining to automation is supporting decisioning throughout the member lifecycle, again, eliminating the need for manual processes that cannibalize time and resources. For example, access to advanced analytics and data at the onset of account acquisition can quickly inform a lender as to whether a new account should be approved or declined. Furthermore, it also presents an opportunity to lend deeper. Credit unions can leverage expanded datasets to perform an analysis on rejected applicants and make more predictive decisions – leading to incremental loans. Additionally, lenders have identified other areas where automated decisioning could speed up processes that once required manual evaluation – from account and portfolio management, to marketing and prescreening efforts, to managing early and late-stage delinquent accounts. By leveraging a partner who can support optimizing credit decisioning with the freshest data and analytics, credit unions can routinely and consistently be sure they’re making the right offers and decisions to the right customer at the right time. 3. Does my potential partner offer digital-first strategies and solutions that help reduce friction and improve the member experience? More and more members are interacting and engaging with their credit unions via digital channels. To meet their demands, credit unions – who have historically prioritized other initiatives over digital transformation– are quickly pivoting and rethinking their digital strategy to offer best-in-class digital banking and borrowing experiences, while also reducing friction. Part of this strategy includes smart, easy and well-designed applications that support sustainable growth simply by streamlining offers and reducing abandonment. When considering a potential partner, take into consideration their ability to assist with digital-first solutions, including: Real-time income and employment verification, and fraud tools to quickly and accurately confirm important factors, including the legitimacy of members, and streamline the borrowing process with minimal friction. Instant prescreen, self-service prequalification and instant credit to offer fast, easy, and convenient real-time credit decisions for members. Additionally, improving lending economics with a digital-first pre-qualification tool can not only better serve members, but also drive more apps and grow loans. Artificial intelligence, machine learning and other innovative technologies to enhance underwriting and decrease both hard inquiries on applications and the need for extensive underwriter review. Prequalification tools powered by innovative technology solutions can lead to efficient use of underwriter resources and act as a filter in front of the LOS to remove unqualified applications from hard inquiries. Technology that integrates with multiple lending and core systems and delivers solutions that integrate with multiple systems and channels. For example, to help improve conversion, the borrower experience can be offered a simple application that is designed to “get to offer” as fast as possible. This helps reduce abandonment. The process can be further streamlined by integrating data sources for ID verification, auto fill assistance and adding integrations with existing lending and core systems. To learn more about Experian and how our solutions can support and grow your credit union, contact us now. Contact Us

Forrester recently named Experian to their Programs of the Year awards, which recognize outstanding achievements in a particular area in sales, marketing and product functions. Forrester gives this award to companies who achieve the successful implementation of Forrester’s research, frameworks and best practices to improve functional performance. At Experian, innovation is at the heart of what we do. We strive for continuous improvement, and look for ways to progress our products and services to better serve businesses and consumers. Over the last year, Experian’s Decision Analytics Portfolio Marketing team engaged with Forrester’s SiriusDecisions group to refine the programs they employ to assess and respond to market needs while meeting their stated growth and performance goals. Experian’s Keir Breitenfeld, Vice President, Portfolio Marketing, Experian Decision Analytics, who presented the team’s results at the recent Forrester B2B summit said, “I’m proud of the Decision Analytics Portfolio Marketing team for what they accomplished while working alongside Forrester SiriusDecisions. We were able to reframe how we assess market opportunities for increased impact as we highlight Experian’s areas of expertise to better serve businesses and the consumers that rely on them.” To learn more about the Programs of the Year award and how Experian innovation helps businesses achieve their goals, visit us or request a call. Contact us