All posts by Kerry Rivera

Knowing which of your customers may receive a tax refund is critical. Trended data can help collectors understand who will use it to pay down debt.

Vince Passione, founder and CEO of LendKey, comments on the state of student lending and how the space is evolving for both consumers and lenders.

Underwriting a sizeable loan can take weeks with the task of collecting income and asset documents to analyze and verify. Understand how verification solutions are easing the pains in the complex mortgage process.

As we enter the holiday season, headlines abound around the shifts and trends in retail. Here from retail expert John Squire on the latest evolutions in the space.

With so much data being generated by our social media obsession, should lenders consider social media insights to assess credit risk?

In Experian’s latest State of Student Lending report, we dive into how the $1.4 trillion in student loan debt for Americans is impacting all generations in regards to credit scores, debt load and delinquencies.

The first wave of Gen Z are coming onto the credit file. Here is a first look at how they are behaving, and what this means for businesses and finance companies.

Experian took a deep dive into the data and performance surrounding the credit union universe in their first-ever “State of Credit Unions” report, featuring insights utilizing data from both 2015 and 2017.

The final day of Vision 2017 brought a seasoned group of speakers to discuss a wide range of topics. In just a few short hours, attendees dove into a first look at Gen Z and their use of credit, ecommerce fraud, the latest in retail, the state of small business and leadership. Move over Millennials – Gen Z is coming of credit age Experian Analytics leaders Kelley Motley and Natasha Madan gave audience members an exclusive look at how the first wave of Gen Z is handling and managing credit. Granted most of this generation is still under the age of 18, so the analysis focused on those between the ages of 18 to 20. Yes, Millennials are still the dominant generation in the credit world today, standing strong at 61 million individuals. But it’s important to note Gen Z is sized at 86 million, so as they age, they’ll be the largest generation yet. A few stats to note about those Gen Z individuals managing credit today: Their average debt is $12,679, compared to younger Millennials (21 to 27) who have $65,473 in debt and older Millennials (28 to 34) who sport $121,460. Given their young age, most of Gen Z is considered thin-file (less than 5 tradelines) Average Gen Z income is $33,000, and average debt-to-income is low at 5.7%. New bankcard balances are averaging around $1,574. As they age, acquire mortgages and vehicles, their debt and tradelines will grow. In the meantime, the speakers provided audience members a few tips. Message with authenticity. Think long-term with this group. Maintain their technological expectations. Build trust and provide financial education. State of business credit and more on the economy Moody’s Cris deRitis reiterated the U.S. economy is looking good. He quoted unemployment at 4.5%, stating “full employment is here.” Since the recession, he said we’ve added 15 million jobs, noting we lost 8 million during the recession. The great news is that the U.S. continues to add about 200,000 jobs a month, and that job growth is broad-based. Small business loans are up 10% year-to-date vs. last year. While there has been a tremendous amount of buzz around small business, he adds that most job creation has come from mid0size business (50 to 499 employees). The case for layered fraud systems Experian speaker John Sarreal shared a case study that revealed by layering on fraud products and orchestrating collaboration, a business can go from a string 75% fraud detection rate to almost 90%. Additionally, he commented that Experian is working to leverage dark web data to mine for breached identity data. More connections for financial services companies to make with mobile and social Facebook speaker Olivia Basu reinforced the need for all companies to be thinking about mobile. “Mobile is not about to happen,” she said. “Mobile is now. Mobile is everything. You look at the first half of 2017 and we’re seeing 40% of all purchases are happening on mobile devices.” Her challenge to financial services companies is to make marketing personal again, and of course leverage the right channels. Experian Sr. Director of Credit Marketing Scott Gordon commented on Experian’s ability to reach consumers accurately – whether that be through direct or digital delivery channels. A great deal of focus has been around person-based marketing vs. leveraging the cookie. -- The Vision conference was capped off with a keynote speech from legendary quarterback and Super Bowl MVP Tom Brady. He chatted about the details of this past season, and specifically the comeback Super Bowl win in February 2017. He additionally talked about leadership and what that means to creating a winning team and organization. -- Multiple keynote speeches, 65 breakout sessions, and hours of networking designed to help all attendees ready themselves for growing profits and customers, step up to digital, regulatory and fraud challenges, and capture the latest data insights. Learn more about Experian’s annual Vision conference.  

In just a few short hours, Vision attendees immersed themselves into the depths of the economy, risk models, specialty finance data, credit invisibles, student loan data, online marketplace lending and more. The morning kicked off with one of the most respected and trusted macroeconomists in the U.S., Diane Swonk. With a rap sheet filled with advising central banks and multinational companies, Swonk treated a packed house to a look back on what has transpired in the U.S. economy since the Great Recession, as well as launching into current state and speculating on the months ahead. She described the past decade not as “lost, but rather lagging.” She went onto to say this past year was transitional, and while markets slowed slightly during the months leading up the U.S. presidential election, good things are happening: We’ve finally broken out of the 2% wage rut Recruiting on college campuses has picked up The labor force is growing Debt-to-income levels have returned to where they were prerecession and Investment is coming back. “I believe we’ll see growth over 2% this year,” said Swonk. Still, change is underway. She commented on how the way U.S. consumer spending is changing, and of course we’re seeing a restructuring in the retail space. While JC Penney announces store closings, you simultaneously see Amazon moving from “click to brick,” dabbling in the opening of some actual storefronts. Globally, she said the economy is the strongest it has been in eight years. She closed by noting there is a great deal of political change and unrest in the world today, but says, “Never underestimate our abilities when we tap our human capital.” -- More than 100 attendees filled a room to hear about the current trends and the future of online lending with featured guests from Oliver Wyman, Marlette Funding and Lending USA. While speakers commented on the “hiccup” in the space last year with some layoffs and mergers, volume has continued to double every year for the past several years with roughly $40 billion in cumulative originations today. Panelists discussed the use of alternative data to decision, channel bias, the importance of partnerships and how the market will see fewer and fewer players offering just one product specialty. “It is expensive to acquire customers, so you don’t just want to have one product to sell, but rather a range,” said Sharat Shankar of Lending USA. -- The numbers in the student lending universe are astounding. In a session focused on the U.S. student loan market, new Experian data reveals there is $1.49 billion in total student loan outstandings. In fact, total outstandings have grown 21% over the past four years, while the number of trades have only grown 4%. Costs are skyrocketing. The average balance per trade has grown 17% over the past four years. “We don’t ration education in this country,” said Joe DePaulo of College Ave. Student Loans. “We give everyone access to liquidity when it comes to federal student loans – and it’s not like that in other countries.” While DePaulo notes the access is great, offering many students the opportunity to obtain higher education, he says the problem is with disclosures. Guardians are often the individuals filling out the FAFSA, but the students inherit the loans. Students, he says, rarely understand how much their monthly payment will ultimately be after graduation. For every $10,000 in student loans, he says that will generally equate to a $100 monthly payment. -- Tomorrow, Vision attendees will be treated to more breakout sessions and a concluding keynote with legendary quarterback Tom Brady.

So many insights and learnings to report after the first full day of 2017 Vision sessions. From the musings shared by tech engineer and pioneer Steve Wozniak, to a panel of technology thought leaders, to countless breakout sessions on a wide array of business topics … here’s a look at our top 10 from the day. A mortgage process for the digital age. At last. In his opening remarks, Experian President of Credit Services Alex Lintner asked the audience to imagine a world when applying for a mortgage simply required a few clicks or swipes. Instead of being sent home to collect a hundred pieces of paper to verify employment, income and assets, a consumer could click on a link and provide a few credentials to verify everything digitally. Finally, lenders can make this a reality, and soon it will be the only way consumers expect to go through the mortgage process. The global and U.S. economies are stable. In fact, they are strong. As Experian Vice President of Analytics Michele Raneri notes, “the fundamentals and technicals look really solid across the countries.” While many were worried a year ago that Brexit would turn the economy upside down, it appears everything is good. Consumer confidence is high. The Dow Jones Index is high. The U.S. unemployment rate is at 4.7%. Home prices are up year-over-year. While there has been a great deal of change in the world – politically and beyond – the economy is holding strong. The rise of the micropreneur. This term is not officially in the dictionary … but it will be. What is it? A micropreneur is a business with 0 to 4 employees bringing in no more than $200k in annual revenue. But the real story is that numbers show microbusiness are improving on many fronts when it comes to contribution to the economy and overall performance compared to other small businesses. Keep an eye on these budding business people. Fraud is running fierce. Synthetic identity losses are estimated in the hundreds of millions annually, with 50% year-over year growth. Criminals are now trying to use credit cleaners to get tradelines removed from used Synthetic IDs. Oh, and it is essential for businesses to ready themselves for “Dark Web” threats. Experts advise to harden your defenses (and play offense) to keep pace with the criminal underground. As soon as you think you’ve protected everything, the criminals will find a gap. The cloud is cool and so are APIs. A panel of thought leaders took to the main stage to discuss the latest trends in tech. Experian Global CIO Barry Libenson said, “The cloud has changed the way we deliver services to our customers and clients, making it seamless and elastic.” Combine that with API, and the goal is to ultimately make all Experian data available to its customers. Experian President of Decision Analytics Steve Platt added, “We are enabling you to tap into what you need, when you need it.” No need to “rip and replace” all your tech. Expect more regulation – and less. A panel of regulatory experts addressed the fast-changing regulatory environment. With the new Trump administration settling in, and calls for change to Dodd-Frank and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), it’s too soon to tell what will unfold in 2017. CFPB Director Richard Cordray may be making a run for governor of Ohio, so he could be transitioning out sooner than the scheduled close of his July 2018 term. The auto market continues to cruise. Experian’s auto expert, Malinda Zabritski, revealed the latest and greatest stats pertaining to the auto market. A few numbers to blow your mind … U.S. passenger cars and light trucks surpassed 17 million units for the second consecutive year Most new vehicle buyers in the U.S. are 45 years of age or older Crossover and sport utility vehicles remain popular, accounting for 40% of the market in 2016 – this is also driving up finance payments since these vehicles are more expensive. There are signs the auto market is beginning to soften, but interest rates are still low, and leasing is hot. Defining alternative data. As more in the industry discuss the need for alternative data to decision, it often gets labeled as something radical. But in reality, alternative data should be simple. Experian Sr. Director of Government Affairs Liz Oesterle defined it as “getting more financial data in the system that is predicted, validated and can be disputed.” #DeathtoPasswords – could it be a reality? It’s no secret we live in a digital world where we are increasingly relying on apps and websites to manage our lives, but let’s throw out some numbers to quantify the shift. In 2013, the average U.S. consumer had 26 online accounts. By 2015, that number increased to 118 online accounts. By 2020, the average person will have 207 online accounts. When you think about this number, and the passwords associated with these accounts, it is clear a change needs to be made to managing our lives online. Experian Vice President David Britton addressed his session, introducing the concept of creating an “ultimate consumer identity profile,” where multi-source data will be brought together to identify someone. It’s coming, and all of us managing dozens of passwords can’t wait. “The Woz.” I guess you needed to be there, but let’s just say he was honest, opinionated and notes that while he loves tech, he loves it even more when it enables us to live in the “human world.” Too much wonderful content to share, but more to come tomorrow …

Experian’s annual Vision Conference, a four-day event designed to bring business leaders together to discuss the latest ideas and solutions surrounding targeting new markets, growing customer bases and profitability, reducing fraud and more, begins Sunday evening in Orlando, Florida. Over the course of the week, a total of 65 sessions will touch on newsworthy and breaking trends. Attendees will discover: The latest generational insights – including a first look at the coming-of-age Gen Z crowd – regarding credit scores, spend patterns and digital behaviors Multiple presentations on the economy, the mortgage market, student lending, small business forecasts and new developments in online marketplace lending Deep dives on fraud in relation to the epidemic of synthetic IDs, Know Your Customer (KYC) compliance strategies, maturing your organization to defeat fraud, and the dark web Regulatory round-ups touching on everything from the Military Lending Act (MLA), the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), Current Expected Credit Loss (CECL) and what is emerging from the new administration Best-in-class sessions on data and analytics, modeling, virtual collections, trended data and credit marketing Intel on the state of commercial lending, the rise of the mircopreneur and the business credit profile across various life stages. Beyond a jam-packed schedule of breakout sessions, the conference will additionally host a series of general session speakers sure to educate and entertain. On Monday, Steve Wozniak, also known as “The Woz” takes the stage to talk about his experiences as co-founder of Apple Computer Inc. and his years in the emerging technology space. Diane Swonk, CEO of DS Economics, will address the crowd on Tuesday to provide details and analysis on the state of the global and U.S. economies. Finally, legendary quarterback and recent Super Bowl MVP and winner Tom Brady will speak on Wednesday to close out the event. Conference attendees can follow everything utilizing their Experian Vision app. Hot stats, pictures and event news will also be shared on multiple social handles using #ExperianVision.

May is Military Appreciation Month, and also a fitting time to check in on the latest news attached to the Military Lending Act, with card compliance coming in October 2017.

Financial Literacy Month was introduced in 2004, but have we made significant strides? How can lenders help with financial education?

It was two years ago when I found myself sitting cross-legged on my home office floor, papers strewn about as I organized piles of tax returns, W-2s, pay stubs, 401k and bank statements, and previous escrow docs. My task? Sort through it all, scan them (if I couldn’t access them digitally) and then upload/email them to a site for my mortgage broker to print and package for my refinance application. For a girl accustomed to Amazon Prime, mobile banking, social media and smart TVs, this monumental financial task seemed utterly archaic – even in 2015. Fast forward two years later, and the mortgage space has failed to make much progress. Clearly, the financial meltdown and Great Recession placed more regulation and compliance stresses on financial institutions. Verification steps and requirements needed to be strengthened – and that made sense. We want to make sure people are capable of paying for those sizable mortgage payments, right? Even now, I get flashbacks to scenes from The Big Short. Still, the hunt for paper, the endless scanning, the emailing, the document uploads required? In an era where the smartphone rules, how has the mortgage industry failed to evolve in the digital age? It’s no secret the financial services industry is typically slow to adopt the latest in technology advancements, but consumers are pushing. A 2016 Accenture survey reveals online banking is now the top choice of consumers at 28%, followed by branch banking at 24%. In the mobile banking space, there has additionally been a significant increase. From 2011 to 2015, mobile banking doubled (22% to 43%) and rose from 43% to 53% for smartphone users in particular. But what about mortgage? Finally, it seems, shifts are underway. In a recent Oliver Wyman paper titled Digital Mortgage Nirvana, the authors state, “Gone are the days when the only way to properly underwrite a mortgage was with long application forms and tall stacks of documents.” Once easy to carry in one hand, the average mortgage application file has ballooned to 500 pages, according to David Stevens, CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association. And while the application may not shrink, portions of the application process can be digitized and automated. Today, lenders have the ability to partner with data aggregators to verify a consumer’s assets and income with online solutions. In fact, lenders can take this a step further, feeding the data into their automated decision engines, providing the consumer with an approval, decline or conditions that must be met in order to clear the loan process. Nonbanks have been picking off business and disrupting the onerous mortgage process for the past several years. Think Quicken, LoanDepot and GuaranteedRate. But all mortgage lenders have the ability to speed up consumer verification and decisioning by partnering with data aggregators and leveraging solutions like Experian’s digital verification suite. Are we talking a one-click shopping experience? No. This is a mortgage after all, not your average online purchase. But banks now have the opportunity to dramatically enhance the mortgage experience for consumers. The question is whether they are ready to finally embrace a digital journey in the mortgage space in 2017, or will they let another year pass them by?