When I think of large, successful companies, a couple of thoughts come to mind; excellent customer service, constant innovation and the unmistakable ability to attract new customers. While each of these is important in its own right, some would argue, the mark of a truly successful company is one that satisfies its existing customers, and keeps them coming back for more. In our recently released Loyalty and Market Trends Report, we found that Ford did just that, as they passed GM and Toyota to take the top spot in corporate loyalty during Q4 2012. During the time period, 47.9 percent of the customers who owned a Ford vehicle returned to market to buy another Ford or Lincoln. General Motors had the second highest corporate loyalty ranking at 47.7 percent, followed by Toyota Motor Corporation at 46.9 percent. The remaining auto manufacturers in the top 10 were Mercedes-Benz (43.4%), Honda (41.8%), Kia (40.0%), Hyundai (38.9%), Subaru (38.9%), Chrysler (38.1%) and BMW (37.0%). Not only did Ford surpass its rivals in corporate loyalty, but it also remained as the top automaker in overall brand loyalty, with 47.1 percent of Ford owners returning to the market to purchase another Ford vehicle. Mercedes Benz was second in brand loyalty with 43.7 percent (a significant increase over the previous quarter when they came in ninth place with 34.6 percent), followed by Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, Honda and Chevrolet, to round out the top five. As if that wasn’t enough good news for Ford, it also had a record eight out of the top 10 models in brand loyalty, led by the Ford Fusion, Ford Flex and Ford Edge. Other Ford vehicles included the Ford Five Hundred, Ford Fiesta, Ford Escape, Ford Focus and Ford Taurus. The only non-Ford models included were the Kia Forte and Chevrolet Sonic. The report also highlighted several other key areas of the automotive industry including registration trends, market share and average age vehicles. To see a webinar recorded presentation of the report or to learn more about Experian Automotive’s other industry insights, please visit www.Experian.com/Automotive. Photo: Shutterstock.com

Linda Haran has been selected for her leadership and contributions to the field of mortgage technology by Mortgage Banking Magazine for the development and introduction of Experian’s IntelliView product. The company’s new interactive, Web-based query, analysis and reporting tool enables financial professionals 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 financial professionals to extract key findings from the data and integrate them into their business strategies. This unique data asset does this by delivering market intelligence on consumer credit behavior within specific lending categories and geographic regions. According to Janet Reilley Hewitt, editor in chief, Mortgage Banking Magazine, the magazine is thoroughly impressed with the ease of use and depth of information that is readily available via IntelliView to help mortgage banking professionals improve their strategies and make better business decisions. Only seven people received Mortgage Banking Magazine‘s Tech All-Star Award in 2013. In Linda Haran's current position, she leads a dedicated team in packaging and executing solution sets that encompass analytics, consulting and software capabilities based on market trends and client needs. To find out more about IntelliView, go to https://www.experian.com/market-intelligence.

Organizations across a range of industries and geographies are facing an increasingly complex, new business environment. As a result, they have a desire to implement originations and customer acquisition strategies quickly and at low risk. The acquisition enables Experian to package Decisioning Solutions’ powerful and proven multitenant, multilingual software with its consumer and commercial data, analytical expertise, and identity proofing and authentication technologies, all from a robust and flexible SaaS model. This will allow small, medium and large organizations to make secure, on-demand, analytics-based customer decisions so they can achieve and sustain significant growth. This is extremely important for telecommunications, banking and consumer finance organizations that want to acquire customers, automate processing and decisioning, manage customer accounts, and reduce customer acquisition costs and risks. These organizations also require an enhancement in the security they use to prevent fraud as well as the ability to drive profitable growth through targeted, analytics-based customer decisions. This is accomplished by including Experian’s flexible and customizable identity proofing and authentication services within this new SaaS platform. Additionally, the platform will enable organizations to quickly and easily develop and deliver the most relevant and profitable customer strategies because it integrates with Experian’s PowerCurveTM Strategy Management and Optimization software. Even more important is that the platform supports multiple languages, so it can be rapidly deployed into new countries and markets around the world. Decisioning Solutions was founded in 2004 and is based in Canada.

The used car buying process can be as challenging for dealers as it is for consumers. Both parties want to make sure they are getting the best deal on a car that is safe and reliable. But how does anyone really know what they are getting? Across the Internet there are many resources available to help in this process including tips from trusted sites like Edmunds.com, KBB.com and NADAGuides.com. The one common thread among them is that they all tell you to get a vehicle history report as part of the research. And that is good advice. Here at Experian, we offer a vehicle history report called AutoCheck. AutoCheck reports contain information on odometer issues, title brands, frame-damage announcements and other important data points. In addition, where available, the reports contain information on accidents (including airbag deployment, point of impact and whether the vehicle was towed). The reports also include the patented AutoCheck Score, a tool that enables dealers and consumers to quickly and easily understand a vehicle’s past and compare it to other vehicles. The important piece to understand about all vehicle history reports is that no single source of information can be fully comprehensive, since not every accident or other auto-related incident is reported. However, at Experian, we are constantly working to enhance and expand our information sources to provide as much detail as possible. For example, our reports contain exclusive auction announcement information from the two largest U.S. Auction houses that may not appear in other reports. These auction announcements show if the vehicle has any potential issues that dealers and consumers should watch out for including frame damage, major repairs, or if the airbags are missing or defective. Additionally, two of our largest private sources of accident data are exclusive to Experian. These sources provide enhanced accident information that allow AutoCheck users to see additional reported accidents and accident details, even in states where state agencies do not collect or choose to share the information. The truth is, all of this information provides dealers and consumers with a unique view into a vehicle’s past, but it will not eliminate all risk from the used car shopping process. It has long been our philosophy that vehicle history reports should only be one step in the pre-owned vehicle purchasing process. In addition to purchasing an AutoCheck report, we encourage every pre-owned shopper to physically inspect the vehicle whenever possible, and to have a licensed mechanic inspect the vehicle to ensure the best and safest vehicle choice is made. During the shopping process dealers and consumers should also consider: 1. Using online resources such as valuation guides and online sales portals (which can obviously help in showing buyers if there is damage to a vehicle) to get a better idea of the vehicle’s value. 2. Visiting the manufacturer’s website to double check for any safety or recall notices that have been issued on the vehicle. To learn more about AutoCheck vehicle history reports, visit www.AutoCheck.com. Photo: Shutterstock

We had a wonderful opportunity to talk with Liz Weston (@lizweston) about saving for retirement, debt, managing credit, and much more. Check out the full-interview: I know you went to the FinCon blogger conference last year, how was that? Liz Weston: Yeah, that was really a great event. There were a lot of opportunities for socializing and networking. It was pretty cool. I met Phil Taylor, who is the organizer, several years earlier. He was a participant in a savings contest that I co-hosted with FNBO bank, and really liked him. I thought it was going to be a small event, and it wasn't at all. They had some great speakers and great information. It was really fun. It sounds like a great event. Liz Weston: Yeah, and it's really a chance for a lot of these bloggers who aren't professional journalists to brush up on their skills and meet some of the companies that they might work with. I found a lot of them were reluctant to call P.R. people and make contacts because they weren't sure their calls were going to get returned. It’s nice for them to meet people at the various companies they can reach out to. You've been writing about money and personal finance since the early 1990s. Has any of your financial advice changed over the years? Liz Weston: Well, we kind of made a joke when I first started this. My editor at The Orange County Register used to always say there are 14 personal finance stories. And we just keep adding new anecdotes and tweaking the advice. Well — not even tweaking the advice — just sort of freshening them up with new anecdotes. I think the problems that people face don't change a lot. Throughout the 1990s and into the 2000s, I think a couple of the big differences were that credit standards got a lot looser. People who sort of counted on lenders to tell them how much they could afford really got themselves into trouble. Another big trend that's been going on is shrinking incomes. We hit a peak in median income around 1999. People are coping with smaller incomes or a less affluent lifestyle than they expected. I was watching your personal finance seminar on YouTube, and you showed some graphs about how incomes are shrinking. Liz Weston: Yeah, I mean it's sort of been a trend more or less since the 1970s, and household incomes didn't lose ground because a lot of women went back to work. But if you even mentioned the fact that the middle class was getting squeezed, it was like a political statement, and it's not. This is just what's happening, and I think it took a while for some of us to figure it out. It's not just people buying too many lattes. They have more significant, more real, and harder-to-fix issues than just overspending. In your book, The 10 Commandments of Money, you have a chapter titled "Saving for Retirement Must Come First" and emphasize the importance of saving for retirement above everything else. Why is that so important? Even before paying off a mortgage? Liz Weston: There is a lot of advice on the web about "Paying off your debt," and that message misses a couple of things: (1) how very expensive retirement is going to be. You're going to have to replace your income (or at least a chunk of it) for a decade, two decades, or even three decades. And that's not something you can do overnight. And (2) people don't understand the power of compounding, which is when you put little bits of money aside over time (and you don't see much growth), and then, all of a sudden, you start to see real growth because your returns earn returns. The problem with putting it off is that you might not get to that sweet spot, where you're really making some money on the money you put aside. Roger Ibbotson, who is the founder of Ibbotson Associates, does a lot of the market research. He did a deep dive into this, and he looked at what people really need to save to have anything approaching a comfortable lifestyle in retirement. Every way he worked the numbers, if you hadn't started by the time you were at least 35, you had a really tough time catching up. He didn't want to say impossible because that's very discouraging, but it's really, really hard to catch up. People think, "Oh, I'll take care of my debt first and then I'll catch up later." Well, life doesn't work like that. As you get into your thirties and forties, your expenses tend to go up, and if you haven't made room for retirement saving, you're unlikely to be able to do it then. And the other thing is if you start early, you have so many more options later in life. You can take time off if you want to, you can retire early if you want to; you have all these choices that you don't have if you put it off. Don't put off retirement saving. No matter how important you think those other goals are, the most important goal has to be saving for retirement. You can do the other things, as well, but don't skimp on your retirement savings. I think that’s a really important message. In your personal finance seminar, you mentioned that you started saving for your retirement in your mid-twenties. If you could go back in time and give yourself advice about saving for retirement, what would you say? Liz Weston: Well, I got a good start through my twenties. I think I was saving about 20 to 22 percent of my income, but I really didn't understand how 401(k)s worked. I would put even more into it now. When I was starting, we had the big crash of '87. We bounced back from it fairly quick, but I thought it was something my company had done to me (when my 401(k) dropped). I thought that my company had turned on me somehow. That's how little I knew about investing. Fortunately, I didn't sell everything or cash out. I knew enough not to do that, but I'm glad I got a start in my twenties. If I could have gotten started even earlier with retirement savings, that would have been even better. I'm glad you mentioned 401(k) plans. In your book, Easy Money, you talk about the keys for investing for retirement. When someone asks you, "Liz, I'm in my mid-thirties and I want to save for my retirement, what type of account should I open?" Liz Weston: Well, the first thing is if you have a 401(k), 403(b), any kind of workplace retirement plan, take advantage of it. There are some plans that are truly awful but they're actually fairly rare. Most plans are pretty good. Especially if you work for a big employer, you tend to have a lot of options. What's interesting is that with the big employers, the investment options tend to be cheaper than anything you can buy retail, or than most things you can buy retail. So, the basic advice is if you have a workplace retirement plan, contribute to that. If you get a match, contribute enough to get the full match. Then, once you have a full-company match, look into a Roth IRA. The reason I say that is that the 401(k) money is going to be taxable in retirement, but the Roth IRA money is not. It's nice to have two different buckets to be able to pull from. It's nice to have options when you're in retirement. So, those are the two ways to get started. If people are unsure about what to invest in, most plans these days have some kind of target date maturity fund, or lifestyle fund that basically does the heavy lifting for you. It might not be where you want to keep your money forever, but at least it gets you into the market. It gets you started, and then you can kind of figure out where to go from there. This is great advice. Liz Weston: Well, it's the advice that people would get if they went to a comprehensive, fee-only financial planner (CFP). A certified financial planner — and the comprehensive financial planners — look at your whole situation. People have mortgages to pay, they have debt to pay off, they have goals to save for, but the CFPs know how important it is to get that retirement savings going and to keep it up. That's the other thing: don't stop and don't cash out. You're going to need every penny of that money when you get to retirement. Where do you recommend someone go to find a qualified CFP? Liz Weston: I have been talking to and working with NAPFA planners. That's the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors. I've been doing this almost 20 years, and I've never met a lemon in that group. They're fee-only. They tend to have very high ethical education and experience requirements. The problem with NAPFA is that a lot of its people are so good that they limit themselves to high net worth people only. They might want you to have $250,000.00 to invest with them, and that's not an approach everybody can take or wants to take. So, if you can't afford the NAPFA approach, the other option is the Garrett Planning Network. It's a network of fee-only planners who typically charge by the hour, so it's kind of a dentist or doctor model; you sort of pay as you go for the advice that you need. Not everybody needs a comprehensive personal financial advisor or financial planner, but I'd say everyone needs it when they're approaching retirement. That's the time when you're making a lot of decisions that are really critical, and you really want a second opinion and another set of eyes on your plan. But I think anybody can benefit from a financial planner. I'm not discouraging anyone, it's just that it does cost money. So, if you're just scraping by, it's something to put on the list for down the road. Now, let's switch gears and talk about debt. In Deal With Your Debt, you have a chapter where you write that debt isn't the enemy – which is shocking. What do you mean by that? Liz Weston: The new edition of “Deal with Your Debt” just came out — the first version was written in 2004. So much has changed in the debt and credit world. However, that piece of advice on debt has not. I bring it up because it was a shock to me. The first time I was doing a money makeover, the financial planner I was working with told someone to stop focusing on paying off his student loans quickly and work on other things. I had been raised in a household where debt was a four-letter word, and I just couldn't imagine the concept of having debt and not wanting to get rid of it as soon as possible. Then, I went through the CFP program myself, and I learned how some debts actually can help you get ahead. However, you have to be careful in taking on any debt. Most of us need a mortgage to buy a home. A moderate amount of mortgage debt can help you get ahead. A moderate amount of student loans and federal student loans tend to be very consumer friendly (if you don't overdose on them). If you're a business owner, sometimes you need an infusion of capital or credit to keep going or to expand. So, those are the kinds of debts that can help you. If it's a low-rate debt or fixed-rate debt, you probably have better things to do with your money than to pay that off quickly. Right now we've got mortgage rates and a lot of loan rates at just phenomenal lows. If they're not the lowest since the 1950s, they're pretty close, and we're likely to see some inflation come back when the economy recovers, so that 2.875 percent mortgage, or the 3 percent mortgage, or whatever, is going to seem like incredibly cheap money. So, I understand the desire to be debt-free. But you don't want to do that at the expense of other goals, like saving for retirement. We recently did a poll asking bloggers and personal financial writers about their favorite money-saving app. When you wrote Easy Money, you mentioned you liked Microsoft Money and Quicken. And you've also referenced that you like Mint.com. You refer to these types of programs as your control panel. Why are these tools helpful for you? Liz Weston: Well, for one thing, you can keep track of a lot of accounts at once. And one of the things you need to be on the alert for is somebody using your account or bogus purchases that might show up. I was a long-time Quicken user, and really liked that program. It put everything in one place so I could look at our spending pattern and see where we might need to cut back — and Mint does that for you. Obviously, it's owned by the same people that make Quicken. Mint.com makes categorization really easy. It automatically categorizes transactions, and you can change it if you want. The bottom line is it really helps you monitor and keep track of your finances without having to bounce around to a lot of different websites. Experian has its own campaign dedicated to helping others live credit smart. I was wondering if you could share a tip to help others manage their credit. Liz Weston: Don't carry credit card debt. Don't think that it's normal. Don't think that it's required, because it's really not. Fewer than half of U.S. households have any credit card debt, and it actually dropped pretty dramatically during the recession. It went from I think 46 percent down to I want to around 39.6 percent. This idea that we all have $15,000.00 of credit card debt is just baloney. What those figures come from is taking the amount of outstanding credit card debt and dividing it by the number of households that have at least one credit card, and it completely ignores the fact that a lot of that debt is being paid off every month. If you want to manage your credit well, get in the habit of paying off your credit card balances. And use your credit accounts regularly, but lightly. You don't want to be maxing out any cards. Again, if you're in the habit of paying off your cards in full, it's going to be easier to do that. It keeps your utilization rate down, and it's going to keep you from getting into real financial trouble. Who are some of the personal finance writers you like to read? Liz Weston: Oh, this is going to be hard because it's going to be like the Academy Awards. I'm going to forget people that I should mention. One of my favorite bloggers is actually a good friend of mine, Donna Freedman. She has a blog called, Surviving and Thriving. Donna grew up poor, but she squeaked by on small amounts of money. She's a talented writer and makes me laugh. So, I'm always checking in with her. WiseBread.com is constantly surprising me and they have a lot of good stuff. Credit.com is another site I check in with regularly – not just because they give good consumer advice, but they're also breaking news all the time. CreditCards.com has some real newsy stuff on their site, and I still check in with Get Rich Slowly and The Simple Dollar, which have been around for a while. Learn more about Liz Weston by following her @LizWeston and subscribe to her blog.

Ronald Reagan once said, “Entrepreneurs and their small enterprises are responsible for almost all the economic growth in the United States.” A truth that still holds true. In the current economic climate, however, small-business owners have found themselves under increased pressure to maintain profitability and grow their business. Since its founding in 1953, the U.S. Small Business Administration has delivered millions of loans, loan guarantees, contracts, counseling sessions and other forms of assistance to small businesses. Today, we announced that we joined forces with the SBA to help small businesses in some of their key programs. The collaboration provides all Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) firms and small businesses considered to be socially and economically disadvantaged under the SBAs 8(a) business development program with full access to Experian’s BusinessIQ Express. BusinessIQ Express is an online tool that improves cash flow by providing small businesses with the resources they need to better manage their business relationships quickly and easily. It does this in three key ways: Evaluate — BusinessIQ Express users can evaluate prospects, customers, suppliers and partners on their likelihood to pay or deliver on time. Monitor — Users can easily monitor their business relationships with alerts and notifications of key changes, allowing them to take appropriate account actions and maintain beneficial relationships. Collect — The tool offers small-business users unique options that may have been never before easily accessible to them to help collect on outstanding debts and avoid future losses. Providing these firms with access to BusinessIQ Express helps alleviate some of the economic pressures they could be facing by providing comprehensive, actionable information so they can make more strategic business decisions.

Who doesn’t like low monthly payments? Unless you are lucky enough to buy a car outright, most consumers would agree that when making any large purchase, one of the goals is to keep the monthly payments as low and affordable as possible. Whether it is providing a large down payment, extending loan terms or securing the lowest interest rates, keeping costs down is a number one priority (at least in my household). As it turns out, Experian Automotive’s recently released State of Automotive Finance report showed that very thing. The report found that the average loan terms for a new vehicle jumped to an all-time high of 65 months, the average interest rate for new and used vehicle loans dropped and the average monthly payments dropped versus the same time period in Q4 2011. The report also showed that the average loan amount for a new vehicle was $26,691 in Q4 2012, up $272 from Q4 2011, while the average used vehicle loan was $17,629 in Q4 2012, up $239 from Q4 2011. However, while consumers are taking out larger loans, lower interest rates and longer loan terms for new vehicles helped bring down the average monthly payments. For example, the average interest rate for a new vehicle loan in Q4 2012 dropped to 4.36 percent, from 4.52 percent in Q4 2011, while the average interest rate for a used vehicle loan dropped to 8.48 percent, from 8.67 percent in Q4 2011. Additionally, the average monthly payment for a new vehicle dropped from $468 in Q4 2011 to $460 in Q4 2012. More consumers also were able to obtain financing in Q4, as average credit scores for both new and used vehicles dropped. For new vehicle loans, the average consumer credit score was 755 in Q4 2012, down six points from Q4 2011. For used vehicle loans, the average consumer credit score dropped to 665 in Q4 2012, down five points from Q4 2011 For more information on this report and other automotive-related insights, please visit ExperianAutomotive.com. Photo: Shutterstock

There’s a lot of commentary in the press today as a result of a report the Federal Trade Commission issued this morning about the accuracy of credit reports. This gives me the opportunity to share some insight into Experian’s business and how we actively manage the integrity of our data. After thoroughly reviewing the FTC report issued today, we believe it confirms that consumer credit reports are predominately accurate and serving lenders and consumers well. The report shows that the vast majority of errors on credit reports have no bearing on credit scores, for example outdated information on a consumer’s phone number or address. About 2.2% of reports contained an identified error that shifted consumers to a more favorable lending tier when the data furnisher corrected the inaccuracy. That said, Experian is not satisfied with this result and we continue to work toward ensuring credit reports are 100% accurate.  We take all errors seriously, and invest millions of dollars every year in ways to maintain the integrity of our data by updating our systems to keep data as fresh and accurate as possible. Experian manages information on 220 million consumers and 25 million businesses here in the U.S. There’s no question that’s a challenging job, but one that’s the cornerstone of what we do and therefore critically important. Given the immense significance of credit data in the lending process, we constantly invest the time and resources to improve the integrity of our data, keeping it as fresh and accurate as possible. Credit data powers lending, commerce and our economy, and enables consumers to have access to reasonably priced credit to get the things they need to live a productive life. Lenders need accurate data so they can make objective lending decisions, and consumers should reasonably expect that the information reported about them is an accurate description of how they have handled their credit obligations. All participants in the credit and lending process, including Experian, bear a responsibility to ensuring credit reports are accurate to help keep this process balanced, harmonious and thriving for everyone. Other research on credit report accuracy has also been conducted and published. The Policy and Economic Research Council (PERC) issued the results of its study in May 2011 (PDF); after extensive scientific research, it found that consumers were negatively affected less than one percent of the time by an error in their credit report. Further, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a report (PDF) that analyzed credit scoring models and found that between 1.3 percent and 3.9 percent of all consumers disputed information on their credit report. Experian’s comments on that report are here. Maintaining Integrity of Our Data The illustration below provides some context on the size of our credit databases. Our goal is to maintain the massive amounts of data flowing through the credit reporting system and ensure credit reports are 100% accurate. Admittedly, this goal has not yet been achieved. We still have work to do, and we invest millions of dollars every year in ways to maintain the integrity of that data by updating our systems to keep it as fresh and accurate as possible. Experian maintains an inventory of more than 400 data quality rules that are customized to the unique needs of clients. Each data furnisher’s submission is checked by these rules to make sure the data is historically consistent and logical before it is loaded to our database. For example, a data furnisher in the auto industry should not be reporting a mortgage account. Our system would catch this, and it would be flagged for one of our data management specialists to investigate. Again, we still have work to do. But we remain vigilant and committed to making improvements. How to Dispute an Error We understand how stressful it can be to find incorrect information on your credit report, especially if the incorrect information is found while applying for credit. Our consumer assistance agents make it a priority to have disputes resolved as quickly and as easily as possible. In fact, to better serve consumers and make sure they have the opportunity to ask questions to understand how inaccuracies occur and how the resolution process works, our consumer assistance center established our “Stop the Clock” program. Instead of measuring the success of our customer service by the number of calls answered or the speed which those calls are handled, our agents are empowered to provide excellent customer service and spend time with each consumer to make sure their questions are answered and they understand any next steps if needed. To accommodate consumer preferences, we provide options on how consumers can initiate a dispute — either online, by telephone or by mail. Most consumers choose to utilize the online dispute system since it simplifies the process by providing choices for the most common dispute reasons and provides a way to check the status of the dispute during the process. In 1996, the credit reporting industry implemented an online dispute resolution system to drive greater accuracy and efficiency into the dispute resolution process. As a result, consumer disputes are sent to data furnishers online daily rather than relying on written documents sent by mail. Our online dispute resolution systems have been enhanced by numerous technology improvements, such as Live Chat assistance for online consumers which have led to faster dispute resolution times – now averaging 14 days. This is less than half the time allowed by federal law. Consumers should be satisfied that we have an effective dispute resolution process that allows them to correct errors through multiple channels. In fact, the PERC study noted above found that 95% of consumers who went through a dispute process were satisfied with the outcome. Experian also invests in consumer education and financial literacy. We want consumers to fully understand the fundamental credit concepts so they can engage effectively in the credit reporting process and play an active role in ensuring information is accurate and complete. The “Live Credit Smart” website is just one example of Experian’s consumer education outreach. Experian’s Commitment We live in a world with balanced interests, and believe consumers, credit grantors and the credit reporting industry all benefit from playing an active role in the credit system. Without this system in place, credit grantors would not be able to assess risk, credit would be harder to get and more costly, lending would slow and as a result, the economy could stall. We know all consumers rely on the ability to lock into a new mortgage rate, get a retail store card to afford that key purchase, or leave the auto dealer with a new car for your family. We take our role in this process seriously, and as a company, we continually challenge ourselves to exceed the highest standards in the industry, both in managing the integrity of our data and helping consumers understand and manage their credit. The success of our business depends on it. Photo: Shutterstock

As you may have seen, 60 Minutes ran a story on the credit reporting industry tonight, and unfortunately, much of the story was inaccurate and misleading. The focus of the segment was on data accuracy and the results of the yet-to-be released FTC accuracy study. Many parts of the story did not accurately reflect the facts that have been validated by independent third party studies, the industry’s position or Experian’s position. As such, we would like to clarify our industry position and specific allegations about Experian’s practices. The Business of Credit Reporting The core business of credit reporting agencies is ensuring the accuracy of consumer credit files. This helps lenders rapidly and accurately assess the credit risk of individual consumers and assures consumers that credit reports are an accurate reflection of their credit and repayment history. The more accurate our data, the more accurate assessment the lenders can make of consumer risk. Data Accuracy – What You Didn’t See 60 Minutes showed FTC Commissioner Leibowitz saying that one out of 10 consumers might have an error that would lower their score. To clarify, the focus of the study was on "material" errors and according to the FTC’s own study, which the Consumer Data Industry Association (CDIA) commented on, “98% of credit reports are materially accurate.” CDIA also shared with 60 Minutes that repeated studies have shown that despite the fact that billions of individual pieces of data are received and processed each year, the credit reports assembled provide highly accurate assessments of consumer credit history that both businesses and consumers can use to make informed financial decisions. They pointed to the work done by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau who looked at the issue of credit accuracy last December. Their analysis found that only between 1.3% and 3.9% of consumers disputed information in their credit report that they believed was in error. Even that number may overstate the number of actual inaccuracies, since the study did not indicate how many of the disputes were the result of an actual error, instead of mere requests to update information or the result of dispute requests from fraudulent credit repair companies who attempt to scam consumers into disputing accurate data. They also highlighted a recent study concluded by the Policy and Economic Research Council that found only one-half of one percent found an error that would cause the consumer to pay a higher price. These studies also showed 60 Minutes that consumers who use the dispute process are generally satisfied with the results and that credit bureaus are handling disputes in a timely manner. In fact, the Policy and Economic Research Council study found that 95% of consumers were satisfied with the outcome of their disputes. Experian’s Management of Dispute Resolution 60 Minutes interviewed three former Experian employees on how they allegedly handled dispute resolutions. As we informed 60 Minutes, these are the details about the important process we employ to manage disputes: “We cannot speak to the motivation of the statements attributed to former Experian employees, particularly as the comments are out of context and simply not reflective of the way Experian runs its business. We can say without question that Experian is focused on providing the highest quality services to consumers. That commitment is reflected in consumer surveys in which 95% of consumers are satisfied with the results of their dispute requests. In addition, Experian does have procedures where its agents can and do question dispute responses directly with data furnishers. Our agents are trained to be proactive when considering information submitted by consumers; they do in fact have the ability to include supporting information provided by the consumer with each dispute. Experian does drive for efficiency in its processes in full support of consumers' needs for speed in resolving their issues. Importantly, however, our agents are empowered to resolve consumer disputes incorporating the highest quality and customer service without time parameters. Regarding the former employee’s comment that “he could not question or investigate a furnisher’s response,” that is simply not true. We utilize a specialized platform, created by our industry and mandated by federal law, for our agents to effectively communicate with data furnishers when processing disputes. The document that the agent reviews includes both the consumer’s dispute as well as the data furnisher’s response. If the agent feels that the response is unclear, they are empowered to phone verify the response. This has been our agents’ process for many years. Consumers need speed in resolving their disputes, and we direct our efforts toward that goal. We complete dispute processing in 14 days on average, well below the required 30 day turnaround required under federal law.” Accusations of Breaking the Law Among the glaring errors, Ohio Attorney General Michael DeWine stated that companies in the industry are in violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. This statement demonstrates both a misunderstanding of the law and the efficacy of our dispute systems. Experian is in full compliance with all relevant laws and regulations. And, from an industry perspective, Federal courts have found no violations on multiple occasions. Further, Congress directed the Federal Trade Commission to conduct a year-long review of the dispute process and they did not find any violations of law. This industry is under continuous scrutiny, but we at Experian do not let that deter us from our commitments. We know there is always more work to do to make the system better, and rest assured, this is core to our commitment. We have a long history of doing what’s right for the consumer. I would invite you to visit “Our Commitment” to learn about how we approach data accuracy, customer service and consumer education.

As the global leader in the credit business, it’s our responsibility to assist lenders in managing consumer credit risk, and importantly, to empower consumers to understand and responsibly use credit in their financial lives. These responsibilities require a commitment – a commitment from us to play a leading role in helping consumers understand the fundamentals of credit management and how they can benefit from this growing marketplace reliant upon credit. To do this, we continually invest in processes and products that help consumers throughout their credit journey. Experian has created a long-standing culture of commitment to evolve with the changing marketplace and demands of consumers (and the credit industry). We have a proven track record of continual improvements to our systems over the years, including: We’ve invested millions of dollars annually upgrading our systems and processes in pursuit of “error-free” data; We were the first credit reporting agency (CRA) to add rental payment history to credit reports; We empowered our call center operators to stay on the phone with consumers as long as it takes to answer their questions; and, We were the first CRA in the U.S. to launch a nationwide financial education campaign. These are just a few examples – and while we are proud of them, we are not sitting idle and resting on these efforts alone. We are constantly striving to make our data as accurate, complete and current as possible to service the needs of consumers and lenders. We know there is always more work to do to make this system better, and rest assured, this is core to our commitment. The world of consumer credit is evolving, and it’s up to Experian (and the industry) to continue looking at ways to make it better. This is a business – but we realize that consumers are at the core of why we are in business in the first place. We are dedicated to helping consumers throughout their journey in this fast-changing world of consumer lending. This is our culture. This is our commitment. I invite you to hear directly from our employees and our partners about our culture and our commitment at www.experian.com/ourcommitment. Photo: Shutterstock

As of 2011, the Hispanic population comprised 16.7% of the United States population, the largest minority group following African-Americans. In addition, 20.3% of U.S. households speak a language other than English. Recognizing the need for expanded financial resources to the Hispanic community, Experian provided a generous grant to translate the NFCC’s MyMoneyCheckUpTM tool into Spanish. The resource provides consumers with a means of evaluating four key areas of personal finance: budgeting and credit management, saving and investing, planning for retirement and home equity. The tool is now available in Spanish at MiAyudaFinanciera.org and Debtadvice.org. “Experian is pleased to work with the NFCC Member Agencies in helping families improve their financial capability and in making this valuable tool available to a wider audience,” said Maxine Sweet, Experian vice president of public education. “We have a shared goal of helping everyone learn to live credit smart. That starts with a clear understanding of your financial position and having readily accessible tools to help guide your future.” Experian has supported the NFCC’s outreach from its earliest days, with representatives previously serving on its Board of Directors, Advisory Council, Education committee and the boards of member agencies across the nation. We recognize the valuable role of the NFCC and its member agencies in helping consumers recover from debt and that they share our passion for educating consumers to live credit smart. To learn more about Experian’s financial education resources, please visit LiveCreditSmart.com. Photo: Shutterstock

Thanks to the new online tools and services found at SSA.gov, you no longer have to wait on the phone or in line at the Social Security Administration (SSA) to access your benefits. Today, vital financial information such as your recorded earnings; social security benefits (or expected benefits), and disability and survivor benefits are instantly accessible online. The SSA recently announced the online “My Social Security” account, a tool that provides access to benefit verification letters and statements. Signing up for an account is easy, free and secure. Simply visit SocialSecurity.gov/myaccount to create a unique username and password. You will then be asked a series of questions provided by Experian to verify your identity and ensure secure access to your account. At this point, your account is fully set up and you can check your information as many times as you want, free of charge. This is important because, much like balancing your checkbook, regularly checking your online social security account is key to making informed financial decisions. Since its announcement, thousands of people a day have been checking their online account. Take charge of your financial planning and create an online “My Social Security” account to check your statement today. Photo: Shutterstock