Global, October, 15 2020 - Experian – a leading global information services company – has announced a partnership with leading international banking group Standard Chartered to drive financial access across key markets in Asia, Africa and the Middle East by leveraging the latest technology innovation in credit decisioning.

Without enough credit bureau data for financial institutions to determine their credit worthiness, especially in this time of unprecedented volatility, many underbanked communities are facing difficulties securing access to loans.

The collaboration involves Experian's leading global decisioning solution, PowerCurve® Strategy Manager, integrated with machine learning capabilities that will enable deployment of advanced analytics to help organisations make the most of their data. In support of Standard Chartered's digital-first transformation strategy, this state-of-the-art machine learning capability provides the Bank with the ability to ingest and analyse a high volume of non-Bank or, with client consent, alternative data, enabling faster, more effective and accurate credit decisioning, resulting in better risk management for the Bank and better outcomes from clients.

Launched in India in December 2019, Standard Chartered registered positive business outcomes such as increased acceptance rates and reduced overall delinquencies. The success in India meant that Standard Chartered is now able to improve risk management for more clients who previously would have been underbanked, empowering them with access to crucial credit and financial services in their time of need.

Beyond benefits to consumers, access to credit is vital for overall economic growth, with consumer spending helping businesses continue to operate during these difficult times.

"Social and economic growth in developing markets, especially in the coming period, will be driven by progress in financial inclusion. Experian strongly believes that a technology, advanced analytics and data-driven approach can address this opportunity and we remain deeply committed to the vision of progressing financial inclusion for the world's underserved and underbanked population. Our long-standing collaboration with Standard Chartered across our PowerCurve® decisioning suite of solutions, leveraging machine learning and big data to advance to the next generation of credit decisioning, is focused on empowering these underbanked communities to access credit," said Mohan Jayaraman, Managing Director, Southeast Asia & Regional Innovation, Experian Asia Pacific.

Reaffirming a commitment towards financial inclusion, Experian and Standard Chartered are working on plans to deploy the solution to its retail franchise across Asia, Africa and the Middle East, in addition to India.

"We're committed to supporting sustainable social and economic development through our business, operations and communities. This partnership helps the Bank manage risk more effectively with a more robust data-driven credit decisioning which in turn enables more clients to gain access to financial services at a time when they need it the most," said Vishu Ramachandran, Group Head, Retail Banking, Standard Chartered.

"Partnerships are central to our digital banking strategy and how we better serve our clients. Experian was a natural choice as a partner given their strong track record in innovation and in driving financial inclusion," said Aalishaan Zaidi, Global Head, Client Experience, Channels & Digital Banking, Standard Chartered.