Experian expands its Experian X Labs, an innovation facility addressing the region’s financial inclusion challenges

Experian, world leader in information services, is further expanding and investing in its Singapore-based innovation facility, Experian X Labs. The facility serves as Experian’s first Asia Pacific (APAC) incubator and collaboration centre for cutting-edge solutions, aimed at addressing pressing economic and societal issues in the region, such as financial inclusion. The Experian X Labs team, comprising data scientists, product architects and industry innovators is set to grow almost 10-fold by 2020, a significant increase from the pioneer team mobilised in 2017.

Financial inclusion is a significant challenge for economic progress in Asia, a region that is home to more than 1 billion people without access to formal financial services^[1]. Fostering greater financial inclusion, through financial access and education, will lead to more opportunities and economic growth for the region. The Experian X Labs team leverages alternative data, advanced analytics and partnerships with industry organisations to develop technology solutions that will bridge the gap between APAC’s unbanked and financial service providers. The recently expanded Experian DataLabs^[2] plays an integral role in the facility, providing a compliant and secure environment for experimentation with data and collaborative research.

Mohan Jayaraman, Regional Managing Director, Decision Analytics and Business Information Services at Experian Asia Pacific, said: “Responsible innovation is the driving force behind our work at Experian. Matching major societal issues with localised solutions, the data science and technology experts at Experian X Labs are tapping on data generated from alternative sources to provide valuable insights into a person’s credit worthiness. Data generated through the region’s rapidly growing internet penetration and mobile usage rates, for example, can help build financial identities for Asia’s unbanked.”

Solutions that are currently in development at Experian X Labs include Experian X Score, a credit-scoring system based on alternative data, aimed at helping more than 200 million consumers across APAC strengthen their financial identities and progressively gain access to a wider set of financial services. These developments will follow Experian’s previously launched Prove-ID in India^[3], an automated identity and address verification service that helps over 7 million marginalised Indian citizens gain access to government and financial services. Prove-ID gathers key consumer insights from multiple data sources and helps banks verify customers at a faster and more efficient rate.

Experian X Labs provides the organisation with a platform to collaborate with start-ups, fintech providers, related businesses and academic institutions in the region. The team is also working to seed and develop APAC-wide solutions aligned with Experian’s core areas of expertise around financial inclusion, digital payments and consumer enablement through advanced data analytics, research and development. In addition to developing innovative technology solutions, the Experian X Labs will continue to play a central role in Experian’s efforts to build digital financial marketplaces in the region, better matching financial solutions with people who need them.

To learn more about Experian X Labs and its latest product solutions, please visit: www.experian.com.sg/innovation

^[1] Financial inclusion for Asia’s unbanked, The World Bank, 30 April 2018

^[2] State-of-the-art DataLab in Singapore focusing on breakthrough experimentation with data to drive an increase in financial inclusion across Asia where 1 billion people remain unbanked, Experian, 11 December 2018

^[3] Female Financial Empowerment: Experian backs financial-literacy and microfinance initiatives targeting 2 million disadvantaged women in Asia, AsiaOne, 7 March 2018