Tag: advanced analytics

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    This article was updated on September 11, 2023. According to research, only 15% of American consumers have swapped out their go-to credit card in the past year and spend more money both online and offline with the card they designate as their top-of-wallet card. With over 578 million existing credit card accounts in the U.S., here are four top-of-wallet strategies to keep your card top of mind: Go digital In today’s digital world, the rules of customer engagement are changing – and card issuers must develop their digital capabilities, including identity resolution, to keep pace. Cardholders enjoy (and expect) the convenience of being able to apply for credit, track their purchases, make payments and view their monthly statements on-the-go. Another popular phenomenon? Digital wallets. Also known as e-wallets, these house digital versions of credit or debit cards and are stored in an app or a mobile device. Digital wallets can be used in conjunction with mobile payment systems, allowing customers to store digital coupons and pay for purchases with their smartphones. Financial institutions that digitally transform and adapt to these new dynamics can more efficiently service and retain their customers. Prioritize fraud prevention As customers’ affinity for e-commerce rises and cyberthieves grow smarter and more sophisticated, card issuers must improve their security measures and increase their focus on cutting-edge fraud management solutions. Not only should you be familiar with the many ways that criminals steal customer payment information, but you should ensure customers that you have multiple lines of defense against cyber threats. Many financial institutions have added digital “on/off switches,” allowing customers to remotely turn off their credit or debit card should they have misplaced it or suspect that they’re a victim of identity theft. With credit card fraud being the most prevalent in identity theft cases, failing to properly safeguard your customers impacts not only their experience but also your ability to grow revenue. Create a single customer view A single customer view is a consolidated, consistent and holistic representation of the data known by an organization about its customers. And according to Experian research, 68% of businesses are currently attempting to implement this type of strategy. By achieving a consolidated customer view, you can attain better consumer insight and fully understand your cardmembers’ needs and buying preferences. Careful tracking of all customer interactions enables you to target more accurately and implement effective marketing strategies. Provide incentives According to Experian research, 58% of consumers select credit cards based on rewards. The top incentives when selecting a rewards card include cashback, gas rewards and retail gift cards. Rewarding loyalty with ongoing benefits goes a long way to encourage customers to keep your credit card top of wallet but it’s also important to figure out what works – and what doesn’t. Bonus tip: Optimize credit limit management Managing credit limits is just as important as setting optimal credit limits from the get-go. Consumer credit needs will evolve over time along with their income and ability to pay. The key here is being able to identify qualified customers who can take on higher spending limits and also have a need. Leveraging advanced analytics models and a proactive credit limit management strategy can help you uncover areas of opportunity to increase wallet share and push your card toward that coveted top-of-wallet spot — or remain there. We recommend reviewing your credit limits at a regular cadence, but especially ahead of periods of increased spending such as the holiday season. In today’s competitive marketplace, getting your credit card top of wallet isn’t easy. That’s why we’re here to help. Experian’s comprehensive view of consumer credit data and best-in-class account management solutions help you target higher-spending customers and promote top-of-wallet use. Learn more

In today’s ever-changing and hypercompetitive environment, the customer experience has taken center-stage – highlighting new expectations in the ways businesses interact with their customers. But studies show financial institutions are falling short. In fact, a recent study revealed that 94% of banking firms can’t deliver on the “personalization promise.” It’s not difficult to see why. Consumer preferences have changed, with many now preferring digital interactions. This has made it difficult for financial institutions to engage with consumers on a personal level. Nevertheless, customers expect seamless, consistent, and personalized experiences – that’s where the power of advanced analytics comes into play. It’s no secret that using advanced analytics can enable businesses to turn rich data into insights that lead to confident business decisions and strategy development. But these business tools can actually help financial institutions deliver on that promise of personalization. According to an Experian study, 90% of organizations say that embracing advanced analytics is critical to their ability to provide an excellent customer experience. By using data and analytics to anticipate and respond to customer behavior, companies can develop new and creative ways to cater to their audiences – revolutionizing the customer experience as a whole. It All Starts With Data Data is the foundation for a successful digital transformation – the lack of clean and cohesive datasets can hinder the ability to implement advanced analytic capabilities. However,  89% of organizations face challenges on how to effectively manage and consolidate their data, according to Experian’s Global Data Management Research Benchmark Report of 2019. Because consumers prefer digital interactions, companies have been able to gather a vast amount of customer data. Technology that uses advanced analytic capabilities (like machine learning and artificial intelligence) are capable of uncovering patterns in this data that may not otherwise be apparent, therefore opening doors to new avenues for companies to generate revenue. To start, companies need a strategy to access all customer data from all channels in a cohesive ecosystem – including data from their own data warehouses and a variety of different data sources. Depending on their needs, the data elements can come from a third party data provider such as: a credit bureau, alternative data, marketing data, data gathered during each customer contact, survey data and more. Once compiled, companies can achieve a more holistic and single view of their customer. With this single view, companies will be able to deliver more relevant and tailored experiences that are in-line with rising customer expectations. From Personalized Experiences to Predicting the Future The most progressive financial institutions have found that using analytics and machine learning to conquer the wide variety of customer data has made it easier to master the customer experience. With advanced analytics, these companies gain deeper insights into their customers and deliver highly relevant and beneficial offers based on the holistic views of their customers. When data is provided, technology with advanced analytic capabilities can transform this information into intelligent outputs, allowing companies to optimize and automate business processes with the customer in mind. Data, analytics and automation are the keys to delivering better customer experiences. Analytics is the process of converting data into actionable information so firms can understand their customers and take decisive action. By leveraging this business intelligence, companies can quickly adapt to consumer demand. Predictive models and forecasts, increasingly powered by machine learning, help lenders and other businesses understand risks and predict future trends and consumer responses. Prescriptive analytics help offer the right products to the right customer at the right time and price. By mastering all of these, businesses can be wherever their customers are. The Experian Advantage With insights into over 270 million customers and a wealth of traditional credit and alternative data, we’re able to drive prescriptive solutions to solve your most complex market and portfolio problems across the customer lifecycle – while reinventing and maintaining an excellent customer experience. If your company is ready for an advanced analytical transformation, Experian can help get you there. Learn More

AI, machine learning, and Big Data – these are no longer just buzzwords. The advanced analytics techniques and analytics-based tools that are available to financial institutions today are powerful but underutilized. And the 30% of banks, credit unions and fintechs successfully deploying them are driving better data-driven decisions, more positive customer experiences and stronger profitability. As the opportunities surrounding advanced analytics continue to grow, more lenders are eager to adopt these capabilities to make the most of their datasets. And it’s understandable that financial institution are excited at the possibilities and insights that advanced analytics can bring to their business. However, there are some key considerations to keep in mind as you begin this important digital transformation. Here are three things you should do as your financial institution begins its advanced analytics journey. Ensure consistent and clean data quality Companies have a plethora of data and information on their customers. The main hurdles that many organizations face is being able to turn this information into a clean and cohesive dataset and formulating an effective and long-term data management strategy. Trying to implement advanced analytic capabilities while lacking an effective data governance strategy is like building a house on a poor foundation – likely to fail. Data quality issues, such as inconsistent data, data gaps, and incomplete and duplicated data, also haunt many organizations, making it difficult to complete their analytics objectives. Ensuring that issues in data quality are managed is the key to gaining the correct insights for your business.   Establish and maintain a single view of customers The power of advanced analytics can only be as strong as the data provided. Unfortunately, many companies don’t realize that advanced analytics is much more powerful when companies are able to establish a single view of their customers. Companies need to establish and maintain a single view of customers in order to begin implementing advanced analytic capabilities. According to Experian research, a single customer view is a consistent, accurate and holistic view of your organization’s customers, prospects, and their data. Having full visibility and a 360 view into your customers paves the way for companies to make personalized, relevant, timely and precise decisions. But as many companies have begun to realize, getting this single view of customers is easier said than done. Organizations need to make sure that data should always be up-to-date, unique and available in order to begin a complete digital transformation.   Ensure the right resources and commitment for your advanced analytics initiative It’s important to have the top-down commitment within your organization for advanced analytics. From the C-suite down, everyone should be on the same page as to the value analytics will bring and the investment the project might require. Organizations that want to move forward with implementing advanced analytic capabilities need to make sure to set aside the right financial and human resources that will be needed for the journey. This may seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. A common myth is that the costs of new hardware, new hires and the costs required to maintain, configure, and set up new technology will make advanced analytics implementation far too expensive and difficult to maintain. However, many organizations don’t realize that it’s not necessary to allocate large capital expenses to implement advanced analytics. All it takes is finding the right-sized solution with configurations to fit the team size and skill level in your organization. Moreover, finding the right partner and team (whether internal or external) can be an efficient way to fill temporary skills gaps on your team. No digital transformation initiative is without its challenges. However, beginning your advanced analytics journey on the right footing can deliver unparalleled growth, profitability and opportunities. Still not sure where to begin? At Experian, we offer a wide range of solutions to help you harness the full power and potential of data and analytics. Our consultants and development teams have been a game-changer for financial institutions, helping them get more value, insight and profitability out of their data and modeling than ever before. Learn More

Over the years, businesses have gathered a plethora of datasets on their customers. However, there is no value in data alone. The true value comes from the insights gained and actions that can be derived from these datasets. Advanced analytics is the key to understanding the data and extracting the critical information needed to unlock these insights. AI and machine learning in particular, are two emerging technologies with advanced analytics capabilities that can help companies achieve their business goals. According to an IBM survey, 61% of company executives indicated that machine learning and AI are their company’s most significant data initiatives in 2019. These leaders recognize that advanced analytics is transforming the way companies traditionally operate. It is no longer just a want, but a must. With a proper strategy, advanced analytics can be a competitive differentiator for your financial institution. Here are some ways that advanced analytics can empower your organization: Provide Personalized Customer Experiences Business leaders know that their customers want personalized, frictionless and enhanced experiences. That’s why improving the customer experience is the number one priority for 80 percent of executives globally, according to an Experian study. The data is already there – companies have insights into what products their customers like, the channels they use to communicate, and other preferences. By utilizing the capabilities of advanced analytics, companies can extract more value from this data and gain better insights to help create more meaningful, personalized and profitable lending decisions. Reduce Costs Advanced analytics allows companies to deploy new models and strategies more efficiently – reducing expenses associated with managing models for multiple lending products and bureaus. For example, OneMain Financial, was able to successfully drive down risk modeling expenses after implementing a solution with advanced analytics capabilities. Improve Accuracy and Speed to Market To stay ahead of the competition, companies need to maintain fast-moving environments. The speed, accuracy and power of a company’s predictive models and forecasts are crucial for success. Being able to respond to changing market conditions with insights derived from advanced analytics is a key differentiator for future-forward companies. Advanced analytic capabilities empower companies to anticipate new trends and drive rapid development and deployment, creating an agile environment of continual improvement. Drive Growth and Expand Your Customer Base With the rise of AI, machine learning and big data, the opportunities to expand the credit universe is greater than ever. Advanced analytic capabilities allow companies to scale datasets and get a bird’s eye view into a consumer’s true financial position – regardless of whether they have a credit history. The insights derived from advanced analytics opens doors for thin file or credit invisible customers to be seen – effectively allowing lenders to expand their customer base. Meet Compliance Requirements Staying on top of model risk and governance should always remain top of mind for any institution. Analytical processing aggregates and pulls new information from a wide range of data sources, allowing your institution to make more accurate and faster decisions. This enables lenders to lend more fairly, manage models that stand up to regulatory scrutiny, and keep up with changes in reporting practices and regulations. Better, faster and smarter decisions. It all starts with advanced analytics. Businesses must take advantage of the opportunities that come with implementing advanced analytics, or risk losing their customers to more future-forward organizations. At Experian, we believe that using big data can help power opportunities for your company. Learn how we can help you leverage your data faster and more effectively. Learn More

Big Data, once thought to be overhyped consultant-speak, is now a term and business model so ubiquitous it underpins billions of dollars in revenue across nearly every industry. Similarly, the advanced analytics derived from big data are key to staying relevant in an everchanging global economy and to consumers with expanding expectations. But for many financial institutions, using big data and advanced analytics seemed to only be in reach for big banks with large, advanced data teams. With the expansion of the Experian Ascend Technology PlatformTM, the conversation is changing. Financial institutions of all sizes can now leverage advanced analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning with new configurations in the award-winning platform. In a release earlier this week, Experian announced new tools and configurations in the Ascend Analytical SandboxTM to fit teams of every size and skill level. Now fintechs, banks and credit unions of every size can have access to Experian’s one-stop source for advanced analytics, business intelligence and ultimately, better decisions. The secure hybrid-cloud environment allows users to combine their own data sets with Experian’s exclusive data assets, including credit, alternative, commercial, auto and more. From there, users can build and test models across different stages of the lending cycle, including originations, prescreen, account management and collections, and seamlessly put their models into production. Experian’s Ascend Analytical Sandbox also allows users to benchmark their portfolios against the industry, identify credit trends and explore new product opportunities. All the insights gathered through the Ascend Analytical Sandbox can be viewed and shared through interactive dashboards and customizable reports that can be pulled in near real time. Additional use cases include: Reject inferencing – refine models, scorecards and strategies by analyzing trades opened by previous applicants who were rejected or approved but did not move forward Prescreen campaigns – design prescreen campaigns, evaluate results and improve strategies Cross-sell – identify cross-sell opportunities for existing customers and identify how they may be working with other lenders Collections strategies, stress testing and loss forecasting – build stronger models to identify customers that have ability and willingness to pay debts, stress test and forecast loss Peer benchmarking and industry trends – compare current portfolio against peers and the industry Recession planning – identify areas to adjust your portfolio to prepare for an economic downturn OneMain Financial, a large provider of personal installment loans serving 10 million total customers across more than 1,700 branches, turned to Experian to improve its risk modeling and credit portfolio management capabilities with the Ascend Analytical Sandbox. Since using the solution, the company has seen significant improvements in reject inferencing – a process that is traditionally expensive, manually-intensive and time consuming. According to OneMain Financial, the Ascend Analytical Sandbox has shortened the process to less than two weeks from up to 180 days. "Experian's Ascend Technology Platform and Analytical Sandbox is an industry gamechanger," said Michael Kortering, OneMain Financial's Senior Managing Director and Head of Model Development. "We're completing analyses that just weren't possible before and we're getting decisions to our clients faster, without compromising risk.” For more information on Ascend Analytical Sandbox SX – the latest solution for financial institutions of all sizes – or other enterprise-wide capabilities of the Experian Ascend Technology Platform, click here.