• Experian has partnered with affordability software and payments company Paylink.
• Experian will leverage Paylink’s ReFi solution, which will validate and repay consumers’ outstanding debts by consolidating them into a new loan with better terms.
• ReFi will allow consumers to conduct a financial reset, while offering lenders the assurance that the new loan is affordable.

Data analytics and consumer credit reporting company Experian is broadening its services this week by expanding its debt consolidation offering. The Ireland-based company is leveraging a partnership with affordability software and payments company Paylink, which will help work around affordability restrictions with debt consolidation loans.

Experian reports that the number one reason consumers search for loans on its marketplace is for debt consolidation. However, lenders are unable to directly pay off customers’ debts when they take out a debt consolidation loan. This means that, during the underwriting process, lenders need to double count both the new loan and existing debts. As a result, some consumers are unable to qualify for debt consolidation loans, since the new loan is considered ‘unaffordable.’ This can result in consumers borrowing from an unlicensed lender, loan shark, or friends and family.

“The benefit of this partnership is twofold, as the ReFi solution offers a valuable tool for lenders to expand their offerings and reach a broader customer base that may have originally been overlooked,” said Experian Consumer Services Managing Director Eduardo Castro.

In today’s partnership, Experian aims to promote financial inclusion and improve access to credit using Paylink’s ReFi tool. ReFi validates and repays consumers’ outstanding debts by consolidating them into a new loan with better terms. After validating a consumer’s card, loan, and overdraft accounts, ReFi confirms balances and settlement amounts, pays creditors, and offers evidence that the accounts are closed.

“ReFi enables a financial ‘reset,’ potentially leading to significant savings and quicker debt repayment,” said Paylink CEO Jake Ranson. “It also provides lenders with assurance that the new loan is affordable and will be used to clear previous debts, helping customers achieve their financial goals. With unparalleled access to data, analytics and market insight, Experian is singularly placed to help ReFi reach thousands more people seeking to realize the opportunities access to reasonably priced credit brings.”

Experian and Paylink are not alone in trying to help consumers struggling with debt. There are a handful of other players in fintech seeking to help consumers solve their debt burdens. Finovate alums Peach, Payitoff, and Debbie, which demoed their technologies at FinovateFall last year, each bring a fresh approach to debt management and payoff. These platforms are not just about numbers; they aim to empower consumers with tools that simplify debt repayment, offering tailored strategies to help users regain financial stability.

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• Experian launched Cashflow Attributes, a tool to offer lenders more data about underserved consumers.
• Cashflow Attributes offers lenders visibility into more than 900 consumer attributes that reflect consumers’ cashflow and affordability.
• Lenders can use the insights to aid in their underwriting decisions, drive more personalized experiences, and help improve financial management tools.

Information services company Experian unveiled Cashflow Attributes yesterday, a new solution that leverages open banking to help underserved consumers access fair and affordable credit.

Cashflow Attributes uses more than 900 income, cashflow, and affordability attributes to allow lenders to integrate applicants’ banking data into the decision-making process. Experian expects the new solution will help some of the 106 million U.S. consumers who are considered credit invisible, unscoreable by conventional credit scores, or have a subprime or below credit score and are therefore unable to secure credit at mainstream rates. Credit Attributes layers traditional credit report data with cashflow insights to create a more detailed view of a consumer’s financial health and creditworthiness.

“Supporting financial inclusion and creating an equitable path to credit is ingrained in our DNA,” said Experian Financial and Marketing Services Group President Scott Brown. “We believe banking information holds untapped potential and that our new Cashflow Attributes represent an exciting step forward that can easily be integrated into lending decisions. As we look ahead, we will continue to leverage our core credit data, new data elements and our analytics expertise to unlock new opportunities for both consumers and businesses.”

To use Cashflow Attributes, lenders first provide Experian with depersonalized transaction information from their existing customers or from customers at other banks, as long as they have consumer-permissioned account access. Experian uses its categorization model to analyze and categorize the consumer transaction data and sends the lender the transaction categories and predictive attributes. Lenders can use these categories and attributes to aid in their underwriting decisions, drive more personalized experiences, and help improve financial management tools.

Founded in 1980 and originally known for its consumer credit reporting, Experian has extensive access to data and has added fraud prevention offerings, identity theft protection, credit building tools, and a loan comparison marketplace. On the commercial side, Experian provides a range of services for small businesses, including business credit reporting, marketing products and services, debt collection tools, and more. The company is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, and is listed on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker EXPN and has a market capitalization of $39.5 billion.

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• Experian is launching its Mule Score, a new service to help banks identify and close down money mule accounts.
• Money mule accounts are used by criminals to launder money and facilitate fraud.
• According to Experian, 42% of first-party checking account fraud is mule-related.

Information services company Experian has unveiled the Experian Mule Score, a new service that will help U.K. banks identify and shutter so-called money mule accounts, or accounts that criminals use to launder money and facilitate fraud.

The “mules” are people that allow criminals to use their legitimately obtained accounts in exchange for cash. Banks can’t see where the money is coming from or being sent to. This lack of visibility makes it difficult to identify and investigate accounts being used by money mules. The issue is widespread– according to Experian, 42% of first-party checking account fraud is mule-related.

“Mule Score is the first solution of its kind, giving financial companies a comprehensive view of account activity, helping prevent them from onboarding potential mule accounts and detect already opened accounts which are suspicious,” said Experian UK&I Managing Director, Identity and Fraud Eduardo Castro.

Experian anticipates the new solution will help banks avoid onboarding suspicious accounts before they are opened, reduce fraud losses and operational costs, support at-risk consumers, and prevent fraudulent funds entering the financial system. 

Experian is leveraging its bureau data, combined with account opening history and turnover activity to create the Mule Score that flags potential money mule activity. The score, which was developed by Experian DataLabs, also uses machine learning to model characteristics of more than 200,000 historical mule cases. As a result, banks can assess their accounts to easily spot suspicious activity.

“The level of fraud and financial crime in the U.K. represents a threat to financial institutions and their customers,” said Castro. “Experian, thanks to our data, analytics and technology, is uniquely placed to help. We are committed to helping eliminate financial crime and ensuring safe financial access for all.”

Originally known for its consumer credit reporting, Experian has leveraged its extensive access to data and has honed its expertise in fraud prevention technology. In 2021 alone, the Ireland-based company prevented more than $2.25 billion (£1.8 billion) in fraudulent transactions. In addition to consumer credit reporting and fraud prevention tools, the company also offers identity theft protection, credit building tools, and a loan comparison marketplace. And on the commercial side, Experian provides a range of services for small businesses, including business credit reporting, marketing products and services, debt collection tools, and more.

Photo by Donald Tong

• Global information services company Experian launched a new fraud prevention solution this week.
• The new offfering is a fintech-focused version of its fraud prevention data network Hunter.
• Hunter takes a collaborative approach to fraud mitigation. The technology has saved businesses more than $6.5 billion a year in fraud losses.

Experian is launching a fintech-focused version of its fraud prevention data network, Hunter, in the U.S. The technology is currently being used by more than 450 organizations in 24 different countries. Experian reports that Hunter has saved its clients more than $6.5 billion a year in fraud losses.

Hunter works by providing participants with a “line of sight” into borrower activity across the fintech industry. A collaborative data network, Hunter enables participants to share data on fraudulent activity in real-time. That data is then securely linked across the network. Participants can use the network to identify potential fraud when onboarding new customers or when verifying current customers. Experian noted that its clients have seen a 35% increase in fraud detection when participating in a Hunter network.

“Our new U.S. Hunter network will harness the power of data and analytics to address real pain points that fintechs experience in combatting fraud,” President at Experian Decision Analytics in North America Robert Boxberger said. “By taking a collaborative approach, fintechs can use this additional data to make more informed decisions that enable smart portfolio growth, improve the customer experience, and mitigate major fraud losses.”

The Hunter network will be available in the U.S. later this year, the company said.

Experian made its Finovate debut in 2012 and most recently returned to the Finovate stage for FinovateFall 2018 in New York. The company’s Hunter announcement comes just weeks after Experian unveiled a new cloud-based fraud solution powered by adaptive machine learning called Aidrian. The new offering is designed to help businesses fight fraud without negatively impacting the customer experience. Last month, Clearcover Insurance Company announced that it had launched a new embedded insurance solution courtesy of a partnership with Experian. The technology gives insurance consumers final, bindable quotes when they shop using Experian’s auto insurance comparison shopping service.

Headquarted in Dublin, Ireland, Experian was founded in 1980. Brian Cassin is CEO.

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• Experian announced a partnership with digital identity company Prove.
• The partnership will integrate up to four Prove solutions into Experian’s digital identity and fraud risk mitigation platform, CrossCore.
• Experian has been a Finovate alum since 2011. Earlier this month, the company announced a collaboration with U.K.-based NewDay.

A global partnership between information services company Experian and digital identity company Prove Identity is designed to help drive financial inclusion around the world via innovations in identity verification technology. The alliance, announced this week, will help companies bring their financial services to a wider range of customers, including members of un- and underbanked communities. The partnership will also enhance access to “faster, easier, and more secure experiences” for consumers.

As part of the deal, Prove will integrate a number of solutions into Experian’s digital identity and fraud risk mitigation platform, CrossCore. The specific integrations will vary by region, but include:

• Prove Pre-Fill – enables auto-fill of application forms with verified data from authoritative sources
• Prove Identity – validates consumer-provided personal identity information (PII)
• Trust Score – provides a real-time assessment of phone number reputation for identity verification and authentication
• Mobile Auth – provides real-time authentication of a consumer’s status on a mobile network

“At Prove, we believe that all consumers should have access to the digital economy, regardless of whether you already have a credit file or not,” Prove co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Rodger Desai said. “We’re proud to be partnering with Experian, which shares our vision for a more financially inclusive digital world. Together, we are giving more companies across the globe access to advanced identity technology, such as cryptographic authentication, that they can use to verify more consumers in a quick and secure manner.”

Prove specializes in verifying identities for members of un- and underbanked communities, many of whom have little or no traditional credit history. The company’s approach to verification leverages mobile phone-centric identity tokenization and passive cryptographic authentication to ensure security and privacy across digital channels while at the same time keeping friction low. More than 1,000 enterprises use Prove’s platform, processing 20 billion customer requests a year in industries ranging from banking and lending to crypto and payments.

“The rapid surge in demand for digital services and the growth of online accounts has accelerated the need for robust, real-time identity verification solutions with the broadest coverage and greatest inclusion,” Experian SVP of Global Identity & Fraud Marika Vilen said. “Integrating Prove’s industry-leading identity solutions with CrossCore and offering them as part of the CrossCore partner program strengthens our state-of-the-art cloud platform, identity verification, and fraud defense while also enabling our customers to verify more customers.”

A Finovate alum since 2011, Experian made its most recent Finovate appearance at FinovateFall in 2018. The company’s partnership announcement with Prove comes less than a week after Experian reported that it was working with U.K.-based unsecured credit provider NewDay. That partnership is geared toward helping Experian Boost customers access a broader array of credit options.

Be sure to join Experian next month for our webinar presentation, Digital Identity: Fintech’s Key to Unlocking Growth, featuring Chief Innovation Officer for Decision Analytics Kathleen Peters.

Photo by Nataliya Vaitkevich