In today’s extremely competitive digital world, business analysts want information when they want it, the way they want it.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the financial services sector, where the power of information helps risk and portfolio managers improve strategies and make better business decisions every day.

With the introduction of IntelliView, never before have you had this amount of pertinent data at your disposal that can be categorized and evaluated according to specific needs. The tool can help you to optimize strategic planning, uncover new opportunities and improve decision making by having 24-7 online access to Experian’s aggregated quarterly consumer credit data.

Data is available for seven lending categories including bankcard, retail card, automotive, first mortgage, second mortgage, home-equity lines of credit and personal loans.

IntelliView data is sourced from the information that supports the Experian–Oliver Wyman Market Intelligence Reports and is easily accessed through an intuitive, online graphical user interface, which enables you to extract key findings from the data and integrate them into your business strategies.

With today’s ever-changing market conditions and increased regulatory scrutiny, you require advanced tools for optimizing strategic planning and operational decision making.

The reports available through IntelliView utilize aggregate credit data that has been predefined into the appropriate product and analytical groupings, taking the pressure off of your organization’s internal resources and allowing them more time for analysis.

Learn more about IntelliView.

Introduced in 2005, the NFCC’s Making the Difference Award honors individuals who have made significant contributions to assisting consumers with financial literacy, awareness and education, furthering the NFCC’s mission, vision and programs through a national presence.

“Maxine Sweet personifies this award,” said Gail Cunningham, vice president of membership and public relations at the NFCC. “Her level of commitment, passion and knowledge combined with Experian’s financial education resources has made a remarkable impact on consumers’ lives.”

“It is a true honor to receive an award with such great meaning,” Sweet said. “As a company, we strive to make a difference. Through the services we provide, the organizations we support and the communities we serve, we will continue to make financial education the heart of Experian.”

The NFCC’s Annual Leaders Conference addresses relevant and timely topics affecting the credit counseling sector. Attendees convene to network and to learn more about the latest developments in the housing, bankruptcy, legislative and financial education sectors.

Sweet and Rod Griffin, Experian director of public education, also conducted a Credit Ambassador workshop for NFCC educators and counselors at the conference. The workshop provided an overview on how to build or restore credit and what to do in case of fraud as well as discussed other consumer resources available from Experian.

To learn more about Experian’s financial education resources, please visit http://www.LiveCreditSmart.com.

Experian Marketing Services

With more than 25 years of experience in marketing, branding and direct-to-consumer programs, DeNunzio has a proven track record of anticipating opportunity and delivering results in every organization he has led.

“Peter is a recognized leader in our industry, and joins us with an exceptional background in interactive marketing, data and agency services,” said Matt Seeley, president of Experian Marketing Services. “Through his leadership and breadth of experience, Peter brings a strategic vision that is essential as we continue to invest in technology and innovative solutions that help our marquee clients deliver truly coordinated, relevant and response driven marketing programs.”

DeNunzio joins CheetahMail from Aimia (formerly Carlson Marketing), where he was most recently the president of the U.S. Customer Loyalty business. At Aimia, DeNunzio was charged with leading the design and delivery of all U.S. loyalty programs directed toward consumer audiences.

Prior to Aimia, DeNunzio was president of Draftfcb New York Earlier in his career, he spent more than 14 years with Ogilvy & Mather, including the global position of managing director EMEA for client IBM, during a period of significant growth in digital and database marketing for the brand. He was also the general manager for OgilvyOne New York and general manager, Global Clients.

Commenting on his new role, DeNunzio said, “As the industry’s largest integrated email service provider, with a client base representing the world’s most recognized brands, CheetahMail has built a reputation for exceptional service and innovation. I’m thrilled to lead this team of talented marketers, and I’m especially excited about the future as CheetahMail accelerates its commitment to providing a fully integrated, interactive marketing platform that helps brands connect with customers in a true multi-channel environment. “

DeNunzio lives in Manhattan and serves on the board of the Columbia Business School Center for Global Brand Leadership and on the board of the Advertising Education Foundation.

The auto finance market is always a hot topic for discussion. After all, a vehicle loan is the second largest purchase that most consumers will ever make (the first being a home).

Following the credit crunch, analysts and consumers alike watched the auto finance market with great interest to see how auto lending would be affected. The answer? Well, according to Experian Automotive’s Q3 State of the Automotive Finance Market analysis, subprime financing and leasing are continuing to make a strong comeback, which is good news for everyone.

According to Melinda Zabritski, Experian Automotive’s director of credit, “Expanding loans to lower-risk tiers opens the market for more car shoppers, while an increase in leasing means it is easier for consumers to get more vehicle for a lower monthly payment. Both of these trends are positive signs of a strong and recovering auto finance market, which ultimately benefits the consumer and the entire auto industry.”

Experian Automotive’s quarterly report looks at several areas of the automotive finance market to show how things have changed on a year-to-year basis. In Q3, market share for nonprime, subprime and deep-subprime automotive loans for new vehicles grew by 13.6 percent and new vehicle leasing grew by 7.53 percent year over year.

The analysis also looked at the top makes that consumers financed. In Q3, Toyota grabbed top honors, claiming 14.09 percent of all new vehicles financed. Ford was second with 13.16 percent, and Chevrolet was third with 11.10 percent.

Other areas covered in this quarter’s analysis include average consumer credit scores for new and used vehicle loans, average dollar amounts financed, 30- and 60-day delinquencies, repossessions, as well as which new vehicles had auto loans with the highest average consumer credit scores.

For more information on this report and other automotive-related insights, please visit ExperianAutomotive.com or check out our press release.

There are two sides to every story. It’s one of those old clichés you hear time and time again. When I think about the collections process, this is the first thing that comes to mind. You have the consumer or debtor who enters into an agreement to pay for something and at some point, makes the decision not to pay.

It could be a credit card bill or a car payment –or maybe they even forget to pay a library book fine (this actually happened to someone I know!). On the other side, you have the debt collector, who has the task day in and day out, of collecting on the debt the debtor has agreed to pay.

This can be stressful, daunting and even unpleasant for both parties. The debt collector is concerned with finding the right party and working out a way to get the debt paid and they use a number of tools to help them do this, including skip tracing products. They definitely don’t want to spend time going down the wrong path wasting valuable time and resources.

With Experian’s introduction of TrueTrace today, collectors now have a new industry-leading product that can improve the collections process. TrueTrace provides a very comprehensive and unique combination of data sources that can include everything from payday lending information to rental information through Experian’s RentBureau database. With increasing margin pressures in this industry, a product like TrueTrace offers the most up-to-date, comprehensive and accurate contact data to streamline their skip-tracing efforts.

This process is part of the business, part of an agreement, but what strikes me as a pleasant surprise is the turn of events where many debt collectors are spending more time understanding consumer credit to better their understanding of the consumer. In turn, they can make themselves more effective and create a more positive experience for the consumer as well. This increase in knowledge can help the collector make better determinations about the consumer’s ability to pay and allow for a more meaningful conversation with the debtor.

With the debt recovery industry focused so heavily on results, TrueTrace will surely play an important role, but combining this with education and professional development can really make for a winning combination for everyone. For more information about TrueTrace, you can read the news release here.

Photo: Shutterstock

Small businesses are getting a lot of attention right now. With the presidential election, Affordable Care Act and talk of the looming fiscal cliff, small business health and survival concerns have been widely discussed across the United States.

Earlier this year, Experian’s Business Information Services and Moody’s Analytics, a leading independent provider of economic forecasting, joined forces to create a business index and detailed report that provides insight into the health of U.S. businesses. The Experian/Moody’s Analytics Small Business Credit Index is reported quarterly to show fluctuations in the market and discuss factors that are impacting the business economy.

The recently released Small Business Credit Index for third quarter 2012 showed that small business credit quality began deteriorating in Q3 after four consecutive quarters of improvement. Findings from the report also indicated that severely delinquent account balances and slower consumer spending growth posed a significant challenge to small businesses that will likely continue throughout the rest of 2012 and most of 2013.

Details from the analysis also highlighted several other areas affecting small business including job growth, payment trends, consumer spending, raising home prices and unemployment.

To download a full copy of the report, please visit www.experian.com/SmallBusinessCreditIndex

Whether you own the largest pickup or the smallest hybrid on the market, one thing remains clear – folks in the U.S. love their vehicles.

In the recently released Loyalty and Market Trends Report by Experian Automotive, we looked at several key trends that highlight who is buying what, and which auto makers received highest marks in loyalty in Q2.

The infographic here reveals that Toyota took the top spot in Corporate Loyalty* for the first time since Q3 2009, and that the Chevrolet Sonic was top model in Brand Loyalty. The analysis also found that Ford owners were the most Brand Loyal overall, landing six models in the top ten.

The report also highlighted several other areas of the Auto industry including registration trends, market share shifts and changes in the average vehicle age.

All of this information will be presented in a free webinar on Oct. 11 at 11am PT / 1pm CT / 2pm ET. If you would like to attend the event, visit www.ExperianAutomotive.com to register. If you can’t make the live event, a recording will be available on the site for download.

*To measure loyalty, we looked at vehicle owners and their subsequent vehicle purchase. For example, if you owned an Acura, then purchased a Honda, you would be considered Corporate Loyal, but not Brand Loyal. To be Brand Loyal, you need to buy another Acura.

Experian Automotive today announced that midrange cars were the highest-selling vehicle segment in the first half of 2012, according to its latest vehicle registration analysis.

The analysis also showed that the Toyota Camry topped the list of best-selling vehicles for the first half, with the Ford F-150 coming in a close second. In the first half of 2011, the F-150 was the best-selling vehicle, with the Camry coming in second.

High-level findings from the analysis showcase the top-selling vehicle segments for the first half of the year and highlight the top vehicle brands in each category.

“The first half of 2012 showed a significant increase (11.9 percent) in vehicle registrations compared to the previous year,” said Jeffrey Anderson, director of consulting and analytics for Experian Automotive.

“Lower interest rates and dealer incentives have certainly been great motivators for consumers in need of a new vehicle to purchase one. Additionally, higher gas prices and new model redesigns could be pushing consumers to look at small to midrange cars, instead of the larger vehicle segments.”

The complete top 10 best-selling vehicles for the first half of 2012 include:

• Toyota Camry
• Ford F-150
• Honda Civic
• Nissan Altima
• Honda Accord
• Toyota Corolla
• Honda CR-V
• Chevrolet Silverado 1500
• Ford Fusion
• Chevrolet Malibu

Interestingly, the analysis also showed that while the Ford F-150 was the second highest-selling vehicle in the first half, it was the top seller in 19 states, with Texas making up more than 17 percent of its total sales. The Toyota Camry claimed the second most states (13), with California accounting for the largest percentage of sales (13 percent).

When looking at growth comparing the first half of 2012 with the first half of 2011, the fastest-growing segment was hybrid cars, with a 61 percent increase. On the vehicle level, the Kia Optima saw a 92.7 percent increase in registrations in the same time frame.

For more information about Experian Automotive’s industry trends research or leading products and services, please visit ExperianAutomotive.com or follow us on Twitter at @Experian_Auto.

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Experian Marketing Services showed that email volume has increased 10 percent in Q2 2012 versus Q2 2011 according to the Experian® CheetahMail® 2012 Q2 email benchmark report.

Experian CheetahMail also found that total open rates increased 1.5 percent in Q2 2012 versus Q2 2011.

Analyzing the email volume among different industries shows that Travel and Consumer Products and Services emails reported the largest increases, with 41 percent and 19 percent, respectively. Media and Entertainment emails also reported a double-digit increase (17 percent) in Q2 2012 versus Q2 2011.There was only a 2 percent change in All Industry email volume from Q1 to Q2 in 2012, as all verticals except Travel had less growth from Q1 to Q2 in 2012 than they had for the same time in 2011.

“For Q2 2012, overall email volume increased 10 percent while open rates were slightly above the 2011 Q2 rates, as more than 55 percent of brands had statistically significant increases in open rates for Q2 2012,” said Regina Gray, vice president of strategic services, Experian CheetahMail.

“While click rates continued to show a year-over-year decline, there is some evidence that the rates are stabilizing. Email is still the most effective channel to connect with customers as we’ve seen a growing trend of brands utilizing social capabilities to acquire and engage consumers and fans across these new media channels.”

The Email and Social Media Connection
The Q2 benchmark report analyzed the Q2 2012 mailings that had a reference to a social media site in the mailing name or subject line of the email – such as Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest – and then were compared to the performance of all other mailings from the same clients for the same time period found that:

• 70 percent growth in brands sending ‘Like us’, ‘Follow us’ or ‘Pin us’ email campaigns.
• Pinterest ‘Pin us’ mailings are generating unique click rates that are almost 25 percent higher than other mailings.
• Unique open rates for Twitter ‘Follow us’ mailings are 9.5 percent higher than those for their other mailings, but unique click rates are virtually identical to all of their other mailings.
• Coupons had over 50 percent higher click rates and double the revenue per email than campaigns without offers.

Experian CheetahMail’s Q2 2012 Quarterly Benchmark Study is available to download.

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The following graph illustrates the global growth between July 2011 and July 2012, based on share of visits to all sites by country:

Other niche social networks that have experienced significant gain include Stock Twits in the US, Redidt in Australia, and FanPop in the UK.

According to Bill Tancer, head of Global Research at Experian Marketing Services, the growth of Instagram and Pinterest over the past year has been successful because they haven’t tried to be ‘another Facebook.’ Both networks are image based – something people love and relate to better than just words. For retail brands, sites like Pinterest present a great opportunity to promote products in a compelling and organized way to a wide group of people, globally.

Deeper functionally, combined with a lower technical barrier to entry, will result in new leaders in social media being created, accepted and used within a matter of days – compared to the rate of adoption happening now over the course of weeks and months.

Also included in the study for July 2011 to July 2012:

What social networks do you use most frequently? Do the results of this study surprise you at all? Feel free to share your thoughts with our readers in the comments section below.