Experian Innovation Lab Celebrates 15 Years of Transforming Industries

When consumers apply for credit, lenders want to make the most informed decision possible. And consumers want to know they’re being considered based on a more complete financial picture that reflects where they are today.   Credit data is foundational to lending decisions, providing a proven view of how consumers have managed credit over time. But we know credit data doesn’t tell the full story for everyone, and millions of consumers face challenges accessing credit.   According to recent research from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York[1],  nearly one in five consumers lacks access to mainstream credit or has damaged credit. Our own research shows 60% of consumers who’ve previously been denied credit or received less favorable terms than expected believe the outcome would’ve been different if lenders had considered their recent income and banking activity alongside their credit history.[2] Consumer-permissioned cash flow data can complement credit information with a more current view of income, expenses and financial activity. These insights can help businesses better understand consumers and approve up to 30% more applicants on average – without adjusting their risk tolerance.   But what about before a consumer applies for a financial product?  Cash flow insights can create value at many points across the consumer journey, including helping people find financial products that fit their needs and financial circumstances.  Putting cash flow insights to work earlier in the journey  We have direct relationships with more than 90 million members who come to Experian for tools and resources to help improve their financial health. As part of that experience, our members have access to Experian Marketplace, a leading consumer comparison-shopping platform for credit cards[3], personal loans[4] and auto insurance[5].  Now, we’re bringing cash flow insights directly into that experience.  With our Marketplace platform Activate, we’re bringing together credit data, advanced analytics, AI and consumer-permissioned financial information to help create more personalized offer matching so consumers can receive more offers they are qualified for that could meet their needs.  For consumers who choose to connect their bank accounts, participating lenders can incorporate our Cashflow Attributes into decisions alongside traditional credit information. This can help lenders identify consumers who may be a good fit for their products while helping consumers discover offers that better reflect where they are today.  This is an important step in how we think about the potential of cash flow data. Its value doesn’t begin and end with underwriting decisions. From helping consumers find relevant financial products to giving lenders additional information to make more informed decisions, cash flow insights can help create a more connected experience.  And Experian is uniquely positioned to bring those pieces together.   Millions of consumers trust us to help them understand and improve their financial health, while businesses rely on our data, analytics and technology to make important decisions every day. Connecting those two sides of the financial ecosystem gives us an opportunity to put cash flow insights to work in ways that can benefit both.  Building what’s next   At Experian, we’re continuing to invest in ways to make cash flow insights more actionable for businesses and more valuable for consumers. That includes expanding how we use consumer-permissioned data, developing new cash flow capabilities and finding more ways to bring these insights into the experiences where financial decisions are being made.  Ultimately, this is about helping businesses see more of the consumer and helping consumers get recognized for more of their financial story.   As we continue to expand where and how cash flow insights are used, we see significant opportunity to create more informed decisions for businesses and more relevant experiences for consumers. [1] https://www.newyorkfed.org/medialibrary/media/images/v5/library/community-development/household-financial-stability/2026/the-market-for-credit-building-demand-product-characteristics-and-consumer-uses [2] Methodology: Experian commissioned Atomik Research to conduct an online survey of 2,000 adults age 18+ in the United States. The margin of error for the overall sample is +/- 2.2 percentage points with a confidence level of 95 percent. Fieldwork took place between July 16 and July 21, 2026. [3] Results will vary. Based on FICO® Score 8 model. Offers and approvals not guaranteed. Eligibility requirements and terms apply. Application is subject to a credit check, which may impact your credit scores. Offers not available in all states. See experian.com for details. [4] Results will vary. Based on FICO® Score 8 model. Offers and approval not guaranteed. Eligibility requirements and terms apply. Application is subject to a credit check which may impact your credit scores. Offers not available in all states. Marketplace Licenses and Disclosures. [5] Results will vary and some may not see savings.

As financial institutions continue to expand their use of artificial intelligence across lending and risk operations, strong model governance has become just as important as building the models themselves. We are therefore proud to be recognized by Chartis Research as the winner in the Model Risk Management Environment category in its STORM Quantitative Analytics50 2026 report. This recognition highlights our commitment to helping financial institutions accelerate AI innovation while strengthening transparency, accountability and regulatory compliance. According to Vijay Mehta, Chief AI Officer at Experian, governing AI with the same level of rigor used to build it is becoming increasingly important as organizations move AI into production. “Financial institutions need to scale AI without sacrificing transparency, accountability or regulatory compliance,” said Mehta. “Our vision is to provide an integrated agentic platform that enables organizations to operationalize trusted AI with confidence, helping them move from building models to deploying trusted AI at enterprise scale.” The recognition reflects our approach to model risk management through the Experian Ascend Platform™, which helps organizations govern analytical and AI models from development through deployment and ongoing monitoring. The platform brings together trusted data, feature engineering, model operations, decision-making and risk analytics with such capabilities as model registry, automated validation, explainability, fairness testing, drift detection and audit-ready documentation. Together, these capabilities help organizations adopt AI while maintaining transparency, traceability and regulatory oversight. The recognition comes as AI adoption continues to grow across financial services. According to Experian research, 60% of respondents say they are moving toward architectures that enable AI agents and systems to work seamlessly across tools and data sources, while 86% say transparency in analytics and insights is highly valuable for improving decision-making. Chartis also recognized the strength of the Experian Ascend Platform™. “Experian’s strong showing in our STORM Quantitative Analytics50 ranking, and its Model Risk Management Environment solution award, reflect the strength of Ascend, its advanced analytics development and management environment,” said Sid Dash, Chief Researcher at Chartis. As organizations move from AI experimentation to enterprise scale, this recognition reinforces Experian’s continued investment in helping financial institutions build trusted AI with the governance, transparency and oversight needed to make confident analytical decisions.

Experian delivered a record FY26, with revenue from ongoing activities up 13% at actual exchange rates and 8% organically to US$8.4 billion. Q4 organic growth reached 9%, highlighting strong momentum and consistent execution across the business. Nearly US$2 billion of revenue came from new and scaling products, supported by innovation, new B2B wins and a free membership base of more than 215 million. Experian is extending its AI leadership through the Ascend Platform, the ServiceNow partnership, Experian Agent Trust and new consumer experiences on ChatGPT and Snapchat. We delivered a record FY26, at the top end of guidance, with revenue from ongoing activities rising 13% at actual exchange rates and 8% organically to US$8.4 billion. Organic growth was at 9% in Q4, further demonstrating the momentum in the business. These results reflect more than strong execution. They show the power of our strategy, the trust placed in our data and decisioning capabilities, and the central role we are playing as businesses and consumers embrace AI to move with greater speed, confidence and impact. Read more here. Across our business, we are building momentum by combining innovation at scale with deep client relationships and understanding of their needs. In FY26, we won new B2B clients, strengthened strategic relationships and expanded our free membership base to more than 215 million. This supported the US$2 billion in revenue (nearly ¼ of our total revenue) from new and scaling products, reflecting the strength of our innovation engine and our ability to turn new ideas into meaningful growth. Our global platforms are helping define what comes next. By introducing agentic workflows within Ascend that bring together AI, data, analytics and decisioning, we are enabling clients to automate complex processes in ways that are more intelligent, trusted and scalable. Our multi-year partnership with ServiceNow is another example of how we are extending that impact across the enterprise. We are also helping shape the trust layer for agentic commerce through Experian Agent Trust, a new framework designed to verify identity, intent and authorisation in AI-driven transactions. We are also reimagining how consumers access trusted financial information in an AI-first world. In North America, we launched our Insurance Marketplace app on ChatGPT and integrated into Snapchat’s AI Sponsored Snaps offering, bringing AI-powered credit and personal finance information to new audiences at scale. In the UK and Ireland, we introduced the UK’s first credit score app on ChatGPT, while in Brazil we embedded our financial education content into conversational AI experiences. Looking ahead, we see significant opportunities. Demand for trusted data, identity, verification and decisioning is growing as organisations look to scale AI responsibly, and we are uniquely positioned to help them do so. Read our full financial statement here.