In-life processes

The key to a good data audit is being able to identify the problems that exist in your data and how you can fix them. Look for a solution that can be deployed with the minimum of training, and which actively draws your attention to issues that need addressing. Aperture Data Studio is one option, another is to speak to Experian Data Quality Services about bespoke solutions.

Once you’ve identified missing data, how can you fill the gaps? The answer is to draw on expertly curated data sets that are regularly updated, can be easily added to your own records and provide colour and depth to your customer insights. Aperture Data Studio offers all this and also allows you to add annotations and tags to datasets.

If your customers have multiple touchpoints with your business, their data is probably stored in more than one location. Using a process known as identity resolution, you can link these disparate records together to provide a single, coherent view of your customer. Experian’s ExPin cross-references your customers with its comprehensive database of UK identities to help minimise errors and duplication when combining records.

Once your records have been brought together, you can discover the benefits of applying a Single Customer View (SCV) to them. By creating a single, holistic view of each customer, you’ll be able to draw the insight you need to provide a better customer experience whether managing their account or promoting new products and services.

It pays to be vigilant and keep an eye on your customers’ changing financial circumstances. One option that can help you watch over your entire portfolio is Experian’s Delphi for Customer Management Scorecard. This solution, which can be integrated into your own systems, helps you spot signs of financial difficulty so you can make proactive decisions on individual credit limit use.

Receiving alerts whenever a customer’s financial circumstances change is one effective way to better manage customer risk. Look for a solution that can alert you to a wide range of financial activity, and which provides timely warnings so you can take appropriate action: Experian Triggers, for example, can be configured to provide daily alerts about collections and other risks.

Risk management requires access to good analytics systems along with the data to provide you with meaningful insight. The best platforms – such as Experian Ascend – are simple to set up and deploy, while providing you with the ability to combine multiple data sources, including your own. This helps you develop your own analytical systems, from custom benchmarking to scorecards and customer management.

Account takeover attacks are on the increase – up 34% over the past couple of years – but it is possible to defend your customers from fraudsters. A complete defence package, such as that offered by Experian CrossCore, combines behavioural biometrics and known fraud checks with machine learning to help you spot phoney logins without inconveniencing genuine customers.

Financial disruption has made economic planning harder than ever. How do you spot the early signs of possible delinquency among your customer base? Tools that comb through your portfolio at a granular level, using variables like unemployment indicators (at both regional and sectoral level) and income shock, can help identify vulnerable customers before their situation worsens.

Affordability checks play a key role across your entire customer lifecycle, not simply when checking an application. Experian’s tools use bureau and Open Banking data to offer snapshots of your customers’ financial health so that you’re notified the moment their financial circumstances change.

You mustn’t jump to conclusions when a customer misses a payment. Understanding why they’ve not (yet) paid helps inform your response. It may also avoid a costly collections process being launched when they’ve simply forgotten to make a payment. You can unlock the data and analytics you need to understand your customers better using a platform like PowerCurve Collections.

Debt repayment is a sensitive issue, which is why a system that provides a discreet, self-serve way of making payments is good for both your customer and your business. PowerCurve Collections lets you set up convenient portals where customers can make payments and participate in the management of their debt.

Financial compliance obligations aren’t simply a box-ticking exercise – choose the right compliance solution and you’ll also reduce your risk exposure. Look for tools that offer risk modelling with multiple data sets, individual and portfolio management tools, and economic forecasting and stress-testing.

You need to monitor your portfolios continuously to comply with AML, KYC and anti-fraud regulations. A good tool will do this for you automatically. For example, Experian’s Compliance IQ can be adjusted to fit your company’s risk appetite and then deployed to seamlessly control your portfolios while ensuring you remain compliant.

If you provide B2B services, you’ll need to take additional steps to meet financial regulations. Look for compliance solutions that provide enhanced KYC and AML features like back-book assessments and benchmarking. Systems that continuously scan your portfolio and alert you to potential financial crime are especially useful. Experian’s solutions offer all of this and are designed to integrate directly into your systems to help speed up investigations.

When it comes to managing risk, the quality of your data is key. To safeguard your business and remain compliant, you should opt for solutions that can incorporate historic data and with current information and which provide forward-thinking analytics to improve the accuracy of your predictions. Experian Ascend is one such tool. Delivered as a multi-user cloud platform, it provides reliable, science-led analysis and forecasts.

Before you can target your customer with new products, you need to know what they’re looking for and whether what you’re offering fits within their budget. If your own records don’t provide you with the insight you need, look for solutions that can tap into meaningful third-party data sets to flesh out your information. You can then feed that enriched data to predictive modelling tools to reveal what products or services your customers may be looking for.

The key to successful business growth is having an intimate knowledge of your market. This requires access to a broad range of information from multiple sources – spanning business, risk and financial databases. A web-based platform like Experian MarketIQ can be used to keep an eye on the competition, identify new market opportunities and accurately assess a business’s financial health to help you make better, more confident decisions.

Another advantage of inspecting your customer more closely is that you can use the same data to find new lookalike prospects. A comprehensive commercial database of the UK business population that’s packed with useful data and capable of being refined to reveal those businesses most likely to be receptive to your overtures is vital. Experian BusinessView, which has continuously updated details of over five million UK businesses, meets all these criteria.