Experian, the world leader in information services, today announced that it has powered over 4.8 billion credit offers since 2010 to the unbanked and underserved communities in Southeast Asia. Globally, that number has hit 8.1 billion. Through its proprietary technology, Experian leverages on telco subscribers’ usage and behavioural data to create financial identities for individuals without formal credit profiles, accelerating financial inclusion in Southeast Asia and the rest of the world.
Southeast Asia is a high growth region and home to over 600 million people, with almost three-quarters of them (73 per cent) not having a bank account. In Vietnam, according to the statistics from the State Bank as of the end 2017, 41 per cent of Vietnamese people still do not have bank accounts. The over 4.8 billion credit offers in Southeast Asia were generated through Experian’s Dynamic Airtime Advance (DAA) solution, which offers airtime advances to consumers on prepaid mobile plans.
This solution is especially relevant to Southeast Asia where the majority of mobile phone subscribers are on prepaid plans. For example, Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest mobile phone market, has 98.3 per cent of its subscribers on prepaid plans. Other notable markets with high concentrations of prepaid subscribers include Vietnam where 95 per cent of mobile subscribers are prepaid subscribers as of the end of February 2017, 1.25 times higher than the world average. In such situations, Experian’s DAA becomes a key first credit experience for a consumer. This paves the way for potentially a wider and complete set of financial services for the consumer, unlocked by Experian’s strong analytics.
Dev Dhiman, Managing Director, Southeast Asia & Emerging Markets, Experian said, “The DAA solution is an example of how Experian is leveraging on alternative data as a starting point to build financial identities for the unbanked and underserved communities across Southeast Asia. Together with our other efforts around investing in and working with key financial marketplaces in the region such as CekAja and RinggitPlus, we remain committed to the region and aim to continue empowering consumers with enhanced access to financial products.”
DAA offers are extended to eligible high-value, low-risk prepaid mobile phone subscribers when their mobile phone account balances are running low. The offer for every eligible subscriber is determined by their credit risk profile, top-up behaviour, airtime and data usage and response rates. Over time, the service builds up a profile for eligible subscribers by monitoring their usage and behavioural patterns which can help create stronger financial identities for eligible subscribers.
Experian’s DAA solution has supported and empowered communities in times of emergency and distress. For instance, after a natural disaster occurred in a SEA market, Experian worked with the telco to offer emergency credit advances to all of the telco’s subscribers for three days regardless of their eligibility. Subscribers were able to remain in touch to alert their friends and families of their safety and whereabouts.
Extending its engagement beyond building the initial financial identity of consumers with DAA, Experian also works with its partner MNOs, using anonymised subscriber usage and behavioural data, to facilitate premium pre-qualification of consumers for financial institutions to extend cash loans, credit cards and insurance to them.
Experian is focused on making a social impact in the underbanked markets by maximising the use of alternate data such as telco data, to help strengthen the financial identities of the consumers, thereby enhancing their quality of life.
About Experian
Experian is the world’s leading global information services company. During life’s big moments – from buying a home or a car, to sending a child to college, to growing a business by connecting with new customers – we empower consumers and our clients to manage their data with confidence. We help individuals to take financial control and access financial services, businesses to make smarter decisions and thrive, lenders to lend more responsibly, and organisations to prevent identity fraud and crime.
We have 16,500 people operating across 39 countries and every day we’re investing in new technologies, talented people and innovation to help all our clients maximise every opportunity. We are listed on the London Stock Exchange (EXPN) and are a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
Press release distributed by EloQ Communications (formerly Vero IMC Vietnam).