Data powers our products and analytics, and underpins our clients’ credit decisions, strategy enhancements and marketing campaigns. The integrity of that data is of critical importance to ensure it represents consumers and businesses fairly.

Our strong focus on data integrity enables us to maximise the value we create from the data we hold, build confidence in smarter data-driven decision-making and enable clients to offer fairer access to credit.

Led by our regional Chief Data Officers, we foster a culture of ownership for data integrity across Experian through targeted training, clear data governance frameworks and cross-functional engagement.

We have strict data standards to continuously improve the integrity of our data and ensure we meet regulatory requirements in the markets where we operate. Our focus is on the timeliness, accuracy and completeness of the data we use to power the products and services we provide to support client and consumer decision-making.

Monitoring and improving data integrity

Our data standards set out processes for measuring and improving data integrity, including tracking performance, monitoring the volume and causes of data disputes, checking for logical inconsistencies, identifying trends, and enhancing our algorithms for matching data to the right consumer or business.

Actions to support improvements include engaging with suppliers on the quality of the data they provide, requesting fuller or more consistent information to assist data matching, or cleansing data (for example, where we identify an overdue payment is consistently included against an account in good standing). We may also acquire additional data to enrich our datasets.

As we update and audit the information in our databases, we make it a priority to rapidly resolve any conflicts or errors that are likely to have a material impact on a consumer’s credit score and outcomes.

Sourcing data

We source data direct from third parties, through data sharing networks and data partnerships, and directly from consumers with their consent.

Our quality control procedures help to ensure data is captured accurately at the point of origin, validated against comparative datasets and aligned with our standards before it is integrated into our databases. Data related to financial performance undergoes heightened due diligence.

We ensure data is sourced from reputable companies that have appropriate permissions and transparency measures in place, and are subject to due diligence, through our global third-party management processes.

To drive continuous improvements and ensure data providers meet our standards, we review and report back on the quality of the data we receive, highlighting areas for improvement and following up with support from data consultants on specific areas where appropriate. If data providers are unwilling to implement improvements to meet our standards, we will no longer source data from them.

We keep careful track of where data is sourced from, and our access controls and audit trails ensure accountability at every stage of the data lifecycle.

Empowering consumers and businesses to correct their data

We empower people to raise queries about the data we hold about them, including via our consumer websites, and take action to correct, restrict or delete data where appropriate.

Where applicable, we pass on consumer disputes to the data provider to evaluate and confirm the accuracy of the disputed data and the entire account. Once a dispute is resolved, we update data as required and notify the consumer of the result. If the data provider fails to respond within the allotted time, we either delete or suppress the item until a response is received so it does not affect the consumer’s credit report or outcomes.

Many of our products also empower consumers and businesses to check for any inaccuracies in their financial profiles and take steps to protect their data. These include options to receive alerts if new searches are made in their name, and to easily lock or unlock their credit report to help reduce the risk of identity theft and fraud.