Introduction

Experian Collaboration allows for you and your partners to connect multiple data sets, using the industry’s most robust offline and digital graphs, to receive richer insights, activate more targeted campaigns, and measure/attribute more accurately. Securely connect your data with your partner's data so that you can achieve more.

This page will take you through details on how to send and receive data to enable Collaboration through crosswalks. 

Experian points of contact

  • Main project point of contact: Experian Project Manager (PM). They will be your main point of contact during the Experian Collaboration project, they will help facilitate data transfers and answer any questions you have regarding resolution or collaboration processing.
  • Interest in other Experian products or services: Experian Account Executive or Relationship Manager. Please work with your sales team for Collaboration contracting or if you are interested in using more Experian products or services.

Experian Collaboration through crosswalks Process

  1. When the contract for Collaboration is signed, an Experian Project Manager (PM) will introduce themselves and be your main point of contact during the project.
  2. Select your delivery location and work with Experian to enable transfers.
  3. Format your data input file based on the guidelines in this article below.
  4. Name the data file using this structure:
  • Ideal file name structure: Client name_Unique identifier_Date file was added to delivery location
  • Sample file name: PetesStores_123456_11.7.23 
  • Note: Unique identifier could be the project name, internal project number, or any other identifier used to describe the input data. Outside of client name, unique identifier, and date that the file was added to delivery location, you can add any additional naming conventions as needed to the file name.

    5. Transfer the data input file to the delivery location and email your assigned PM with the below information:

  • For the email subject line, include your business name and project name
  • In the body of the email, include the data input file name and quantity of records in the file
  • If using Experian Secure Transport, attach the ST file transfer email notification you received to this email as well

     6. Experian will perform collaboration as detailed in the contract, which may include address hygiene on PII and resolution of digital identifiers.

     7. Your PM will provide initial match results of the collaboration for you to review and provide approval before moving forward.

     8. Experian will format the output data file(s) based on the guidelines in this article below.

     9. Experian will transfer the data output file to the delivery location.

Standard delivery locations & cadence

These are the standard delivery locations that we support for you to send and receive Experian data inputs and outputs.

  • Experian Secure Transport (aka Client SFTP, STS)  

  • Amazon (AWS) S3  

  • Google Cloud Platform*

  • Snowflake*

*Disclaimer: Data ingestion from and delivery of the collaboration output to Snowflake and Google Cloud has an extended set up time of 3-4 weeks. If the data is needed sooner, we can ingest the input data or deliver the first collaboration output via one of the other delivery locations, like sFTP or S3.

These are the standard delivery cadences that we support for you to send Experian data inputs for resolution.

  • Monthly  

  • Quarterly

  • Annually 

Data Inputs

Quickly jump to an ID section using these links:

Standard data input file details

  • U.S. records only  
  • Record count < 300MM per partner  
  • Delimiter = Pipe (|)  

    • Standard data inputs for resolution

    Experian supports collaboration between two client/partners files at the individual or household levels by resolving offline and digital identifier data to an Experian ID. This resolution process then enables collaboration and sharing of payload data. 

    • Experian LUID is a unique identifier assigned to one or more persons living at an address as a group or family unit. The Living Unit ID will remain consistent for those persons in the group or family as long as they remain together as a unit.

    • Experian PID is a unique identifier assigned to every person. ID remains consistent but does change based on update logic.

    • Personally identifiable information (PII: name, postal address, and email and phone in the raw) 

    • Mobile ad ID (MAID)

    • Hashed email (HEM)  

    • Hashed phone number

    • IP address (IP)
    • Customer data record

     

    These IDs can be sent separately or in combination.  If you do not already have an Experian LUID or PID, you will send Experian the other supported IDs and we will resolve back to a LUID to enable collaboration. 

     

    Experian IDs *Preferred input ID*

    Often with collaboration, we already have an Experian LUID or PID in place with you. In this case, Experian already has the information required to enable the collaboration so no additional inputs will need to be sent. 

    Field name Field description Field formatting
    Experian ID Living Unit ID (LUID) or Person ID (PID) A client or partner specific Experian ID assigned to each record.

    Sample data input file with Experian IDs

    Experian_ID
    3012345678
    2098765432 
    3987654321

    Personally Identifiable Information (PII)

    We can accept PII from you and your partners to resolve to an Experian LUID. This resolution process then enables collaboration and sharing of payload data. Experian accepts:

    • Postal address

    • Name

    • Email in the raw

    • Phone number in the raw

    Delivery standards

    The customer record ID is a required field and then you would send accompanying PII fields that have been determined previously. Data fields should be formatted based on standards below.

     

     

     

    Field name 

     

     

     

     

    Field description  

     

     

     

     

    Field formatting  

     

     
    Unique_seq  

    Customer record ID 

    *Required field*

    		 A sequence number unique to each record on the file used for post-collaboration matchback.  Client Account Number could be utilized if unique across the file. 
    prefix   Name Prefix   1 to 15 characters (truncates after 15) such as “Ms.”
    fname   First Name   1 to 20 characters (truncates after 20)  
    mname   Middle Name   1 to 20 characters (truncates after 20)  
    lname   Last Name   Address Standardization allows up to 30 characters  
    suffix   Name Suffix   1 to 15 characters (truncates after 15) such as “Jr”   
    fullname   Full Name   1 to 40 characters (truncates after 40)  
    addr1   Address Line 1   1 - 30 (truncates after 30) Address   
    addr2   Address Line 2   1 - 30 (truncates after 30) Address   
    addr3   Address Line 3   1 - 30 (truncates after 30)  
    city   City   1 to 40 characters (truncates after 40)  
    state   State   2 alphabetic characters for most services  
    zip   ZIP Code   4 or 5 numbers (if 4 numbers, then assume a leading zero)  
    email   Email in the raw 50 with '@' and '.' within string  
    phone  Phone number in the raw 10 numbers 

    Sample data input file with PII

     

     

    Unique_seq

     

     

     

     

    fname 

     

     

     

     

    lname

     

     

     

     

    addr1 

     

     

     

     

    city

     

     

     

     

    state 

     

     

     

     

    zip

     

     

     

     

    email 

     

     

     

     

    phone

     

     
    00458480  Mike Evans  123 Main Chicago  IL 60193  mike@att.net 8476531234 
    00371889 Bob  Hoff 377 Eagle Ave  Denver CO  80026 bob@gmail.com  3031235687
    03a5978  Hank  Orr  789 Main St Costa Mesa  CA 92614  hank@aol.coc 7149893388 

    Mobile Ad ID (MAID)

    We can accept MAIDs from you and your partners to resolve to an Experian LUID. This resolution process then enables collaboration and sharing of payload data. Experian accepts:

    • Raw MAID 

    • SHA1 MAID

    • SHA256 MAID 

    • MD5 MAID

    • Across apple or Android (Google) 

    Delivery standards

    The customer record ID is a required field and then you would send accompanying fields that have been determined previously. Data fields should be formatted based on standards below.

     

     

    Field name 

     

     

     

     

    Field description  

     

     

     

     

    Field formatting  

     

     
    Unique_seq  

    Customer record ID 

    *Required field*

    		 A sequence number unique to each record on the file used for post-collaboration matchback.  Client Account Number could be utilized if unique across the file. 
    maid   MAID Raw MAID (36 bytes)  
    md5_maid   md5 MAID  This is the MAID hashed using md5  
    sha1_maid   sha1 MAID This is the MAID hashed using sha1  
    sha256_maid  sha256 MAID This is the MAID hashed using sha256  

    Sample data input file with MAIDs

    Unique_seq maid 
    00458480 67dfdbe7-acdb-4177-b885-3f49f6782eb4       
    00371889 7452903A-E184-4846-A378-69E15ACBD11D       
    03a5978 8200A84D-EF54-4DF5-9A48-3A937C02E71F      

    Hashed Email (HEM)

    We can accept HEMs from you and your partners to resolve to an Experian LUID. This resolution process then enables collaboration and sharing of payload data. Experian accepts:

    • SHA1 HEM 

    • SHA256 HEM

    • MD5 HEM 

    Note: If you are looking to send email in the raw, that is considered PII.

    Delivery standards

    The customer record ID is a required field and then you would send accompanying fields that have been determined previously. Data fields should be formatted based on standards below.

    Field name  Field description    Field formatting  
    Unique_seq

    Customer record ID

    *Required field* 

    		 A sequence number unique to each record on the file used for post-collaboration matchback.  Client Account Number could be utilized if unique across the file. 
    md5email  md5 Email Address   This is the email address hashed using md5 lower case and trimmed prior to hash   
    sha1email sha256 Email Address  This is the email address hashed using sha1 lower case and trimmed prior to hash  
    sha256email  sha256 Email Address   This is the email address hashed using sha256 lower case and trimmed prior to hash   

    Sample data input file with HEMs

    Unique_seq sha1email
    00458480 71581ddec6248362dc418157c1773c967c7bfb7f
    00371889 9736c9f074c812b4fad888453d782506f22aa5a8
    03a5978 92c3575f4be087b8872c0d84360754f2751179c3

    Hashed phone number

    We can accept hashed phone number from you and your partners to resolve to an Experian LUID. This resolution process then enables collaboration and sharing of payload data. Experian accepts:

    • SHA1 phone 

    • SHA256 phone

    • MD5 phone 

    Note: If you are looking to send phone number in the raw, that is considered PII.

    Delivery standards

    The customer record ID is a required field and then you would send accompanying PII fields that have been determined previously. Data fields should be formatted based on standards below.

    Field name  Field description    Field formatting  
    Unique_seq  

    Customer record ID 

    *Required field* 

    		 A sequence number unique to each record on the file used for post-collaboration matchback.  Client Account Number could be utilized if unique across the file. 
    md5phone    md5 Phone Number This is the phone number hashed using md5   
    sha1phone sha1 Phone Number  This is the phone number hashed using sha1  
    sha256phone  sha256 Phone Number This is the phone number hashed using sha256   

    Sample data input file with hashed phone number

    Unique_seq sha1PhoneNumber
    00458480 82581fdec6348372dc428157d1723c957c7cfb7f 
    00371889 5736c3f064c872b4cad889453e782536f22ba5a8
    03a5978 32b3545f2aa083b8842c0b84460764f2751179c3 

    IP address

    We can accept IPs from you and your partners to resolve to an Experian LUID. This resolution process then enables collaboration and sharing of payload data. Experian accepts:

    • Raw IPV4 

    • Raw IPV6

    • SHA1 IP 

    • SHA256 IP

    • MD5 IP 

    Delivery standards

    The customer record ID is a required field and then you would send accompanying fields that have been determined previously. Data fields should be formatted based on standards below.

    Field name  Field description    Field formatting  
    Unique_seq  

    Customer record ID

    *Required field* 

    		 A sequence number unique to each record on the file used for post-collaboration matchback.  Client Account Number could be utilized if unique across the file. 
    ip_address   IP Address  Raw IPv4 or IPv6  
    sha1_ip   sha1 IP   This is the IP hashed using sha1  
    sha256_ip    sha256 IP   This is the IP hashed using sha256   
    md5_ip   md5 IP   This is the IP hashed using md5  
    ip_start_date  IP Address Start Date   Client defined first seen activity date for  IP. format: YYYY-MM-DD or YYYY-MM-DD %  
    ip_end_date IP Address End Date   Client defined last seen activity date for IP. format: YYYY-MM-DD or YYYY-MM-DD %   
    ip_state_code IP Address State Code   Two byte state abbreviation  

    Sample data input file with IPs

    Unique_seq ip_address
    00458480 216.59.183.63
    00371889 24.11.50.221  
    03a5978 24.18.184.226

    Customer data record

    Experian supports collaboration between two parties and allows them to share payload data.

    Delivery standards

    The customer record ID is a required field and then you would send accompanying fields that have been determined previously. Data fields should be formatted based on standards below.

    Field name  Field description   Field formatting  
    Unique_seq 

    Customer record ID

    *Required field*

    		 A sequence number unique to each record on the file used for post-collaboration matchback.  Client Account Number could be utilized if unique across the file. 
    The file should include data inputs for resolution as specified in the contract. These are the data fields that will be resolved to enable collaboration (e.g. MAID, IP, PII, etc.)
    The file should include data inputs for collaboration as specified in the contract. This is the payload data that will be carried through collaboration and returned on the output file (e.g. purchase date and purchase dollar)

    Sample data input file with collaboration data

    Unique_seq maid Purchase_date  Purchase_dollar
    00458480 67dfdbe7-acdb-4177-b885-3f49f6782eb4  20230801 85
    00371889 7452903A-E184-4846-A378-69E15ACBD11D 20230813  114
    03a5978 8200A84D-EF54-4DF5-9A48-3A937C02E71F  20230906 52 

    Data Outputs

    Standard data outputs for collaboration

    Experian will deliver the collaboration output file to the client and partner in the delivery location previously determined. Both parties will be receiving an output file from Experian.

    Delivery standards

    The standard output file will include crosswalk ID and the unique sequence number (customer record ID) or the Experian ID, not both. 

    Field name  Field description    Field formatting  
    Unique_seq    Customer record ID A sequence number unique to each record on the file used for post-collaboration matchback.  Client Account Number could be utilized if unique across the file.  
    Crosswalk_ID   Shared crosswalk ID  If applicable, shared match key as a result of collaboration 
    Experian_ID Experian LUID or PID A client or partner specific Experian ID assigned to each record.  

    Sample data output file for Collaboration through crosswalks

    Alternative #1

    Unique_seq Crosswalk_ID 
    00458480 1230004560007890001 
    00371889 1230004560007890002 
    03a5978 1230004560007890003 

    Alternative #2

    Crosswalk_ID Experian_ID 
    1230004560007890001 3012345678  
    1230004560007890002 2098765432 
    1230004560007890003 3987654321