Case Studies

Using insight from Experian, E.ON implemented an innovative project addressing fuel poverty. Despite a huge investment from all energy suppliers, the latest statistics showed that around 4.5 million people in the UK remain in fuel poverty - defined as a household that needs to spend more than 10% of its income on fuel to keep warm and the Experian report highlighted that these are the most difficult customers for energy companies to manage and serve.

E.ON established Challenge 100 with a coalition of 12 expert partners, including Experian. The project focused intensively on a number of vulnerable communities for a fixed period – focusing effort and maximising resources to see what an energy company could do to eradicate fuel poverty. Over 100 days, 102 families were able to access a range of free services such as energy efficient measures in their home, energy efficiency advice, and an income maximisation service via a 'One Stop Shop'. By the end of the project, the projected changes in income and fuel costs meant that 42 families were no longer classed as 'fuel poor' and the average participating home would save £351/year. The results from Challenge 100 have been used to influence government thinking and used within the business to transform E.ON's commitment to vulnerable customers and communities, helping to ensure the causes of fuel poverty are addressed, not only the problem alleviated.

Understanding the ethnic diversity of employees is increasingly important to organisations in order to ensure their workforce draws on all available talent and reflects the rich diversity of customers served.

Traditionally, this information has relied on self disclosure through time-consuming surveys, where results are often incomplete and skewed by factors such as inconsistent definitions of ethnicity. Experian's Diversity Monitor solves these problems by matching the names of individuals against a database of three million first and family names. Through careful statistical weighting, it provides a consistent picture of the ethnic mix of any list of names.

The Royal Free Hospital (RFH) in London has used Diversity Monitor to profile its 6,600 employees and to compare this to a sample of 75,000 of its patients and to the local catchment area. The results have enabled the hospital to consider the representation of ethnic groups in different roles and to see how this reflects the ethnic diversity of patients and the local community. It has also allowed the RFH to make comparisons with important national trends when recruiting black and minority ethnic people into medical roles.

Experian has a partnership with Nottingham's City Council and its wider local government team, 'One Nottingham' that tackles inequality. As part of a programme of events to support the city and its people through the economic downturn, Experian suggested a series of high profile events to promote debt awareness.

With Experian acting as a main partner this Debt Awareness Campaign was initiated in 2009 and ran for a year, with events, information and practical support to help local people, as well as local businesses, through the recession.

In addition, Experian has been integral to the Council's Economic Resilience (ER) programme. Our Chairman, Sir John Peace is Chairman of the Economic Resilience Forum led by the Council's Chief Executive Jane Todd. The Forum is a unique partnership between the City Council, local businesses and the education sector and has developed a robust approach to focusing on the key issues for the city, leveraging data provided by Experian and other participants. Sir John commented: "We are pleased to be able to use our insight to help the Council prioritise around the key issues that will allow Nottingham to weather the recession successfully. As a major local employer, we are very much committed to doing whatever we can to support the community and help people cope with these challenging times."

Experian has been exploring potential support for the microfinance sector as part of our programme of investment in innovation with a strong social purpose. Using our decision-making tools, we believe we can make the process of microlending more efficient. Following initial research, funded by the CR programme, Experian is now partnering in a new company, called Experian MicroAnalytics. Elio Vitucci, who previously headed up the Decision Analytics division at Experian, is leading the new company and has a real passion for microfinance. He explains his drive:

"Regulated, responsible access to finance is something we take for granted in developed countries. In emerging economies though, banks do not typically lend to small companies or private individuals. Microfinance tries to fill this gap, playing a particularly important role in the development of the small business sector in these emerging economies. Experian's tools and expertise in credit risk management can help support microfinance providers in their mission by making the lending process more efficient, while reducing the risk of over-indebtedness."

The microfinance sector is mainly served by a large number of relatively small-scale providers. Experian MicroAnalytics will be meeting this challenge by developing a range of packaged solutions, utilising Experian technology, which can be delivered over the internet as an on-demand software service. The focus will be on markets in Africa, Asia and Latin America, where the sector is developing quickly.

The World Bank estimates that about two-thirds of the world's population remain unbanked and under-served by formal financial services. We believe that Experian has a valuable part to play in accelerating financial inclusion and building the capacity of the world's poor to help themselves.