Our business model

We use the power of data to create opportunities, improve lives and make a meaningful difference in society

Everything we do is in pursuit of our purpose. We help businesses to grow, people to prosper and communities to thrive, while promoting a culture of diversity, inclusion and unlimited opportunities for all. Helping individuals, as well as businesses of all sizes, to achieve their financial goals is at the heart of our work.

About us

We are experts at turning data into information. By integrating data into advanced technologies and by deploying sophisticated analytics, we can play a key role in helping consumers and businesses interact more easily with each other.

 

 

See stakeholder engagement (pages 22 to 25) for more information

We help consumers

  • Better understand their financial position and confidently manage decisions about their finances
  • Improve access to financial services
  • Shop for credit and insurance offers in our marketplaces
  • Protect themselves against identity theft and fraud
  • Negotiate debts with lenders

We help businesses

  • Deliver services to consumers with greater speed, efficiency and accuracy
  • Make fairer, better-informed and more responsible decisions
  • Manage credit risk and minimise the risk of fraud
  • Understand their markets, become more efficient and reduce costs
  • Gain business intelligence
    and improve their customer experience

We add value

  • By increasing effectiveness, lowering costs, and making data-driven digital transactions more convenient, secure and safe
  • By investing in key differentiators that underpin our business, and using these to execute our strategy and improve operational excellence

Providing essential services for people and organisations

We help create opportunities for people to improve their lives and for organisations to make faster, smarter decisions. We do this by transforming data into information, and by deploying advanced technologies, platforms and analytics.

Consumers

Understand and improve their financial profile

  • Access to credit reports and scores, identity monitoring and protection
  • Free consumer membership base of 134m people
  • Products: Experian Boost, Experian Go, PowerScore

Financial education

  • Comprehensive awareness and education programmes
  • United for Financial Health across multiple regions, Trilha Financeira in Brazil

Make better financial decisions and achieve
better, faster outcomes

  • Product comparisons for credit card, personal loan, mortgage or automotive insurance products they will most likely qualify for and benefit from using
  • Products: Match/Credit Matcher/eCred in USA, UK and Brazil, AutoCheck in the UK, CarCert in Germany, patient care eligibility and access solutions: MyHealthDirect in the USA

Protect themselves against financial loss and identity theft

  • Identity Theft Protection – Experian CreditLock
  • Security Freeze

Manage their spending and meet payment obligations

  • Limpa Nome debt negotiation (Brazil)
  • Serasa Digital Wallet (Brazil)

Business-to-Business

Big data analytics platform

  • Ascend Technology Platform: data on demand and sophisticated analysis tools
  • DataLabs: advanced data analysis, and research and development by data scientists

Core data platforms

  • Collect, sort and aggregate data from tens of thousands of traditional and alternative sources and transform it to provide a range of information services

Open data platforms

  • Open Banking: facilitating the provision of data from consumer bank accounts, with their permission, to other parties

Consumer-contributed data

  • Consumers adding their own data to their credit files
    with products like Experian Boost in the USA and UK

Decisioning

  • Manage and automate large volumes of decisions and processes, on site or in the cloud
  • PowerCurve in the cloud: customer decision management for connecting analysis and operations
  • CrossCore: fraud prevention
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A detailed look at what our business segments do and how they generate revenue

Business-to-Business

Data

53%

of Group revenue – from ongoing activities

Market position

Number one or number two in our key markets

Main competitors: Equifax, TransUnion, Dun & Bradstreet, BoaVista, LiveRamp and Epsilon

What we do

We operate 23 consumer and 15 business information bureaux across the globe, to provide businesses with the information they need to develop relationships with their customers, to grow their businesses and to manage the risks associated with extending credit. We build and manage large and comprehensive databases containing the credit activity and repayment histories of millions of consumers and businesses. We collect, sort, aggregate and transform data from tens of thousands of sources, to provide a range of information services. Organisations analyse and use this information to make decisions about lending and the terms on which to lend.

Read about our responsibility to treat data with respect on pages 50 to 55

Key customers

Banks, automotive dealers, retailers and telecommunication companies

How we add value

  • We aggregate data from many sources and turn it into information they can use for many different purposes
  • We help provide lenders with a comprehensive view of a consumer’s financial situation
  • Information is used to support impartial credit decisions, broaden access to credit and promote fair and responsible lending
  • We also provide marketing data relevant to consumer lifestyles which helps businesses understand their customers better and serve them with tailored products

Revenue model

  • Primarily transactional with some contribution from licence fees

Decisioning

21%

of Group revenue – from ongoing activities

Market position

Market-leading provider of business solutions in key markets except for the USA

Main competitors: FICO, IBM, SAS and Change Healthcare

What we do

We draw on the depth and breadth of our credit information databases and on other information, including clients’ own data, to create and develop predictive tools, sophisticated software and platforms. These all help businesses and organisations manage and automate large volumes of decisions and processes, both on site and in the cloud. Our services help our clients improve the consistency and quality of their business decisions, in areas including credit risk, fraud prevention, identity management, customer service and engagement, account processing, and account management. Our industry specialists and data scientists work with clients to help them find the best solutions for their needs.

Read about how we're combining our data, analytics and software to solve a range of client needs – see pages 34 to 45

Key customers

Financial services, retail, US healthcare, telecommunications, utilities, insurance and FinTech

How we add value

  • Assessments of creditworthiness, suitability and affordability of loans support responsible lending
  • Faster, frictionless and better-informed decisions help improve customer experience
  • Relevant insights into new and existing customers support more effective management and better engagement with customers
  • Authentication of customer identity helps prevent identity fraud and other crime

Revenue model

  • Software and system sales: consultancy and implementation fees; recurring licence fees; and transactional charges
  • Credit scores sold on a transactional, volume-tiered basis
  • Analytics: a mix of consultancy and professional fees, as well as transactional revenues

 

 

Consumer Services

26%

of Group revenue – from ongoing activities

Market position

We are the market leader in Brazil and one of the market leaders in the USA and the UK

Main competitors: Intuit, NerdWallet, Lending Tree, ClearScore, Equifax and TransUnion

What we do

We help millions of consumers take control of their credit so they can manage their financial position. We provide credit education, identity monitoring and fraud prevention services directly to consumers in the USA, Brazil, UK, South Africa, Peru, Colombia and India. Our services for consumers include free access to their Experian credit report and score, and useful online educational tools. In the USA and UK we enable people to contribute their own data to their file, for example utility, mobile payments and streaming services, to help them improve their credit score. We offer comparison services that show consumers a choice of relevant and available credit, personal loan, mortgage, automotive insurance and other deals. In Brazil, our online recovery portal, Limpa Nome, lets consumers see all their own past-due debts in one place, and negotiate more achievable repayment plans with lenders.

Read on pages 36 to 37 how we're redefining Consumer Services far beyond credit scores and monitoring

Key customers

Consumers, lenders and insurance providers

How we add value

  • Support consumers in taking control of their credit, improving their financial well-being and achieving their financial goals
  • Provide immediate tangible results through credit score improvement and renegotiation of debts
  • Support eligibility for, and improved access to, credit offers and other services
  • Improve navigation of major financial decisions, such as buying a home
  • Improve detection of, and resilience to, identity theft and fraud

Revenue model

  • Monthly subscription and one-off transaction fees
  • Referral fees for credit products
  • White-label partnerships

1 Revenue from ongoing activities.

 

What makes us different?

We invest in a number of key areas to sustain and grow our competitive lead.

Consumers are at the heart of what we do

We have relationships with millions of consumers. We help people use data to support their financial well-being. We have pioneered new ways to give people greater control over their data, and give them the confidence to flourish financially.

We will manage our business based on clear principles:

Security

Data security is critical. Securing and protecting data against unauthorised access, use, disclosure and loss are key priorities for us.

Accuracy

We will make data as accurate, complete and relevant as possible for the manner in which it is used, always in compliance with legal requirements.

Fairness

We collect and use data fairly and for legitimate purposes, balancing privacy expectations with the social and economic benefits derived from the responsible use of data for individuals, businesses and clients.

Transparency

We are open and transparent about the types of data we collect, where we get it, how it is used and where it is shared. Where appropriate, we provide individuals with access to the data we collect about them and the ability to correct, restrict or delete data.

Inclusion

We seek to improve financial health and inclusion for all through the innovative use of relevant data to help individuals improve their financial lives.

Strict security controls based on

ISO 27001

We are ambitious

We are working together towards achieving our goals, and we have big ambitions:

  • To be viewed as one of the greatest companies in the world by all stakeholders
  • To be trusted by consumers, businesses, and societies worldwide as an outstanding custodian of their data
  • To be recognised as an innovative technology company that uses data and sophisticated products to meaningfully improve outcomes for businesses and consumers
  • To be purpose driven in all that we do, to be widely recognised as a driver of financial inclusion and a champion for the consumer
  • To be uniquely positioned, with closely connected B2B and Consumer Services businesses that enhance each other, with superior data, products and deep client and consumer relationships
  • To be perceived as an aspirational environment for talent, attracting, retaining and developing the best people
  • To have a reputation for outstanding execution, products and customer service, enabling us to build durable competitive advantage
  • To be viewed by all stakeholders as a company that achieves sustained growth

A culture of innovation

Innovation has always been a major differentiator and growth driver for us. We have established a culture of continuous innovation and we employ some of the world’s leading data scientists and software engineers to innovate in anticipation of ever-changing market trends, and to solve pressing business and consumer challenges. We continually invest in data science and maintain high standards of scientific excellence.

We have a formal process and framework of innovation across Experian. We call it ‘Athena’, and it helps us bring new products and services to market more successfully.

Our extensive data assets

Data is the foundation of our business. We are constantly adding data assets to help our partners understand, respond to, and use their data faster and more effectively. Worldwide, we hold and manage the credit history and repayment data of 1.4 billion people and 191 million businesses. We are constantly expanding the breadth and depth of our data coverage through partnerships, new bureau data on ‘thin-file’ consumers in the USA, Brazil and other regions, as well as consumer-permissioned data through our growing Open Data Platform which allows millions of consumers to contribute to, and engage with, their data, enabled by products like Experian Boost and Experian Go.

Investing sustainably

We incorporate ESG factors into our investment decisions. We choose to invest in products and services with the clear purpose of generating positive social impacts, alongside financial returns. Our core products and social innovation products help improve access to credit, to support financial inclusion, improve financial literacy, and prevent fraud and identity theft. We are also investing in lessening our environmental impact, reducing our carbon emissions through investing in more efficient technology, reducing our energy requirements, and making more use of renewable energy. This supports our aim of being carbon neutral in our own operations by 20301. Underlying this, is our investment in data security, accuracy, fairness, transparency and inclusion, our commitment to working with integrity, and inspiring and supporting our employees.

1 All references in this Annual Report to ‘carbon neutral in our own operations by 2030’ includes all Scope 1 and 2 emissions, plus within Scope 3 the categories of ‘Purchased Goods & Services’, ‘Business Travel’ and ‘Fuel-and-energy-related activities’ (which represent 83% of our baseline emissions in Scope 3). This is aligned with the emissions covered by our science-based target approved by the SBTi. Refer to pages 64-71 for further information.

Our global footprint
and employees

We have a diversified portfolio and serve multinational and local clients from a broad range of sectors in more than 100 countries. We have a scalable business model which means we can develop new products in one market and replicate them in others in a systematic way, helping us export our most successful platforms and formats. Our 20,600 skilled employees operate from 43 countries across six continents.

Robust financial performance and reinvestment

We have a disciplined approach to capital allocation that balances investment in the business and returns to shareholders in support of our strategy to achieve consistent growth.

Breadth and combination of capabilities

Our greatest strength comes from combining data with our advanced analytics and decisioning tools. This approach means we can often create highly differentiated services that are unique to Experian. We collaborate across our organisation to develop solutions to complex problems.


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