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Disrupt Confusion By Adding Customer Value

October 17, 2019 by Jessica Woods

The digital financial services arena is crowded, customers are confounded, and consumer-finance companies have an opportunity to stand out by adding value to the user experience.

Among hundreds of digital financial-services companies worldwide, the industry leaders chosen for the H2 Ventures/KPMG Fintech 100 for 2018 includes 21 lending and credit providers and 34 digital-payment and transaction services. The wealth of possibilities has millennials and other tech natives eagerly sampling different options. Less savvy consumers, meanwhile, are excited about the potential of digital financial services, but bewildered by all the choices.

Nearly half (46%) of consumers are confused by the array of financial products and services available, reports financial-technology company Fiserv. While the study found growing consumer interest in features and functions of digital-financial services, it also found that “One third of consumers say they want to use mobile banking features but don’t know how.”

Understand and empower customers

So what’s the remedy? A recent report by Global business consultancy PwC, offers suggestions including the following:

  • Harness “customer intelligence”—the use of data to recognize customers individually and to respond to their needs and desires in real time—as a critical element of success.
  • Recognize that “digital services” are fast becoming just-plain “services.” Digital it’s the way financial services will be delivered going forward, and customers expect digital and mobile access to services. Optimizing their digital experience is key to success.
  • Prioritize data security. Threats to customer data are not slowing down. Consumers are aware of this, and anxious about it. Customers want to be confident that service providers share their privacy concerns, and that their data is in good hands.

Benefits for customers and lenders alike

One way consumer finance companies can act immediately on these suggestions and expand the quality of their digital services is to offer customers credit education and identity-protection services from Experian.

Experian’s flexible deployment options enable easy integration of these high-value resources into existing apps, websites and mobile services. White-label delivery options let education and identity protection tools conform to any “look and feel,” and single-sign-on identity validation can give customers access to these resources whenever they sign into your app or website. This provides customers the seamless access to services they prefer and increasingly expect.

By helping customers to improve their finances and to safeguard their personal data, these high-value services also give lenders insight into customer needs and creditworthiness, and can help uncover a new revenue source. Greater understanding of customer priorities in turn enables timely, targeted product offers that address customer needs and offer great ROI potential.

Credit education products enable customers to tap into their credit files to:

  • View their credit reports (from Experian or from all three national credit bureaus)
  • Check their FICO® or VantageScore® credit scores
  • Get individualized explanations, based on their specific credit histories, of what’s keeping them from getting a higher credit score, and how they can take action to improve their scores
  • Set goals for credit score improvement and track their progress toward those goals

Identity protection alerts customers of suspicious activity and indications their personal information has been compromised, via services including:

  • Monitoring credit files and alerting users of new applications or accounts opened in their names
  • Tracking customer Social Security numbers (and their children’s) and alerting customers if they are used to open bank accounts, file tax returns, apply for credit, etc
  • Scouring the Internet, including the Dark Web, and alerting customers if their personal information appears on illicit lists, in data-breach disclosures, etc

By offering Experian credit education services, consumer-finance companies build goodwill by helping customers improve their financial health. Providing helpful, actionable guidance on credit decisions can help customers grow into stronger credit candidates who qualify for better loan products. Credit education services and best-in-class marketing services from Experian also give lenders insight into their customers’ evolving creditworthiness, enabling the delivery of highly focused, prequalified credit offers that fit the users’ needs.

Consumer finance companies that provide identity protection services deliver high-value benefits, underscoring a commitment to protect their customers’ personal credit data. This can deepen customer loyalty and add a powerful new revenue stream with paid up-sell options.

Extending your brand identity

When adding value to the user experience, it’s critical to preserve what’s unique and compelling about that experience. Experian makes it easy to integrate and customize credit education and identity protection services to adapt to any brand. Delivery options include: APIs, fully remote hosting, or a variety of hybrid configurations. Experian services can be embedded seamlessly within existing apps and websites.

Download the Consumer Finance eBook to learn more about how Experian credit education and identity protection services can help add value to your digital customer experience.

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