Welcome to the Experian Thought Leadership Hub

While the US economy has so far avoided the worst-feared outcomes of higher tariffs, there remains significant uncertainty and concern over outlook, which is driving caution among lenders. In our just-released Q2 2025 Lending Conditions Chartbook, we break down the latest economic developments and do a deep dive into credit conditions across product segments, regions, and lender types. Key insights include:

• Unemployment remains low, but there are ongoing signs of softening in the labor market.
• Real incomes have improved somewhat after softening for most of 2024, which may continue to support consumer spending.
• The housing market continues to be constrained by high prices and interest rates, which are impacting affordability.

Join Experian for an exclusive look into the forces reshaping the rental housing landscape. This webinar reveals how shifting renter demographics, rising affordability pressures, and evolving credit behaviors are impacting the market. Discover actionable insights on rent trends, payment risk, and the power of rent reporting—plus, get ahead of macroeconomic shifts influencing housing demand in 2025.

Join Experian’s Dark Web Intelligence Team to explore how to score consumers’ identity health and the benefits for both businesses and consumers.

We'll break down:

• The accelerating risk of identity exposure on the dark web and what it means for your organization and your customers
• Case studies of fraud events detected through dark web alerts
• How Experian's Identity Health Score translates signal data into action, helping you identify at-risk consumers, upsell safely, inform cyber insurance strategies, and protect employees

Economic uncertainty is often seen as a deterrent to growth, but for many Americans, it’s become the fuel for a fresh start. As inflation wavers and traditional employment structures shift, more individuals are stepping out of corporate roles to pursue business ownership. In this week’s Commercial Pulse Report, we take a closer look at what’s driving this wave of entrepreneurial activity.

Check out the full report to see how these trends could impact your strategy!

Subscribe to Commercial Pulse Report

The 2025 U.S. rental market reflects broader economic conditions, shaped by shifting market forces and ongoing uncertainty. Landlords and property managers are navigating a complex landscape where understanding renter behavior, affordability challenges, and macroeconomic pressures is key to maintaining stable occupancy. By staying informed on these trends, they can better attract and retain long-term tenants.

Key Insights:

• Renter Financial Pressure: Renters across all demographics are facing rising debt and affordability issues, impacting their housing stability.
• Rent-to-Income Imbalance: Rent prices continue to rise faster than incomes, increasing the financial burden on tenants nationwide.
• Macroeconomic Impact: Factors like interest rates, unemployment, and housing development are reshaping rental market dynamics.
• Strategic Adaptation Needed: Landlords must adapt to evolving renter preferences and market conditions to ensure long-term success.

Based on interviews with global financial institutions, the Forrester Total Economic Impact™ study, commissioned by Experian, reveals real customer impact stories and business wins delivered by the Experian Ascend Platform™. This infographic shares some of the key findings.

Key insights include:

• 183% return on investment (ROI) and $13.3M in net present value (NPV) over three years
• A car leasing company’s approval rates increased from 60% to 66%, improving consistency and revenue growth
• An airline reduced fraud chargebacks by 99.9%, lowering regulatory risks and financial losses.

The Forrester Total Economic Impact™ (TEI) study, commissioned by Experian, explores the quantifiable and unquantified benefits of implementing the Experian Ascend Platform™. Based on interviews with global financial institutions, the report provides a comprehensive analysis of how the platform improves credit decisioning, reduces fraud, and delivers significant ROI.

Key insights include:

• 183% return on investment (ROI) and $13.3M in net present value (NPV) over three years
•  67% improvement in credit decisioning efficiency
• 20% reduction in default costs through better risk modeling
• 5% annual growth in application volume without added headcount

The latest Experian Commercial Pulse Report provides a sharp look at how recent economic shifts are impacting small businesses across the U.S., with a special focus on supply chains, specifically the transportation industry, which is experiencing fallout from changing trade policies. Are industry-specific models effective in mitigating risk?

Check out the full report to see how these trends could impact your strategy!

Subscribe to Commercial Pulse Report

While the US labor market remains on decent footing, it has become increasingly challenging to land a job. For lenders, current dynamics suggest there could be greater-than-expected stress in higher-income households and in the Prime credit segments of the market if layoffs increase and job opportunities for these workers remain scarce. Insights include:

• Businesses are scaling back on hiring due to economic uncertainty and AI uptake
• Employment in both tech-centric and broader professional and business services has been stagnant
• Higher-educated/white-collar workers feeling the strain of a challenging job market