Experian 2013 Annual Report Download - page 55
Download and view the complete annual report
Please find page 55 of the 2013 Experian annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.The focus on financial education has
been a longstanding one at Experian
and also led us to develop educational
support programmes such as ‘Values,
Money and Me’. This has been delivered
nationwide across the UK this year and
helps schools teach children about the
importance of financial responsibility, and
not just ‘money management’ skills. The
programme has been approved and the
distribution supported by pfeg, the UK
financial education charity, and there are
plans to replicate it in Ireland. This year we
also announced a three-year partnership
with pfeg to establish ‘Centres of
Excellence’, supported by Experian and our
volunteers, promoting financial education
in schools located in the UK’s most
financially disadvantaged communities.
New emphasis on ‘Big Ideas’
We believe that commercial solutions
to social problems will have scale
and longevity beyond those based on
donations and philanthropy; they will
have the most sustainable effect on
society. Termed ‘Big Ideas’, we are now
looking at how we can deliver more
through our strengths and capabilities
as a business, scaling up these activities
as part of our Heart of Experian Social
Responsibility programme.
An outstanding example of a ‘Big Idea’
we first reported last year is our work with
the Big Issue Invest, the investment arm
behind the iconic Big Issue magazine, to
create the UK’s first commercial Rental
Exchange Service. This will offer a secure
and compliant way to include a tenant’s
rental payment history in credit reports,
with their permission. Rental payment
information is not currently included on
credit reports.
This year we have invested further and
worked with the social housing landlords
and tenants and set up the infrastructure
to make it possible – for the first time –
for tenants to build their credit history
by taking account of their regular rent
payments. This will strengthen their
credit history, enable them to apply for
mainstream loans and help them qualify
for lower-cost credit deals.
New ways to engage with consumers
There have been a number of initiatives
this year focused on greater engagement
with consumers and the most dramatic
was in Brazil. A series of five ‘Clean My
Name’ debt fairs were organised by
Serasa and 56,000 people attended these
one day events to meet Serasa Experian
and all its lender clients in one place.
Sharpening our community focus
Our programme of community
investment remains hugely important,
engaging our people and touching the
lives of thousands of people across the
world. This year’s total was US$6.1m
made up of volunteering hours, cash,
donations in kind and employee
fundraising as shown above. Our
colleagues worldwide value the chance
to get involved in their local community,
and volunteer enthusiastically.
We have always looked beyond our
centrally funded initiatives and this
year we have included in our reporting,
programmes developed within our
business units. These include, for
example, donations made to an
organisation called ‘Donors Choose’
in North America, from our consumer
business. Many of the organisations we
support have been partners with us for a
number of years. One such example is the
Allen Community Outreach (‘ACO’) project
in Texas, which supports struggling families
with food, clothing and financial advice and
support. Most of ACO’s customers have
no access to computers, making it hard
for them to deal with potential employers,
government agencies or other companies
online. In the past Experian has provided
support to set up a computer room,
allowing users to get online at the project
and Experian’s employees have volunteered
extensively at the centre and provide the
financial education and support so vital to
making a long-term difference.
•Improving the Group’s measurement
and reporting of its social and
environmental impacts, which
will help us focus on how we are
protecting the environment and
addressing social concerns, not only
how much we are investing or saving;
and
•Seeking out how the Group can better
identify and respond to social needs
through product innovation, referred
to at Experian as creating ‘Big Ideas’.
The launch of the Heart of Experian
Social Responsibility programme
The most important outcome from the
global management conference was
establishing a global theme for Experian.
As part of our successful global culture
programme, the Heart of Experian
Social Responsibility programme was
launched globally in March 2013 to
17,400 employees around the world.
With the aim of helping communities
realise their social and economic
potential, the Heart of Experian
Social Responsibility programme
encompasses our existing successful
community programmes while also
pioneering how we use our business
skills, products and services to
promote financial education, financial
inclusion and support small business
entrepreneurs.
Community investment
2013
US$’000
2012
Re-presented
US$’000
Funds from Experian plc 1,217 981
Financial donations and investments from Experian subsidiaries1,2 2,676 1,504
Employee time volunteered3656 505
Gifts in kind4323 282
Management costs 416 274
Total from Experian 5,288 3,546
As % of Benchmark PBT 0.44% 0.31%
Employee fundraising 785 815
Total value of all giving 6,073 4,361
As % of Benchmark PBT 0.51% 0.39%
1. Financial donations and investments from Experian subsidiaries have been re-presented in the light of
improved data capture processes. Additional financial donations were identified in the North America region,
the largest of which was US$180,000 in relation to Donor’s Choose. The total amount was previously reported
as US$941,000.
2. Financial donations and investments include relevant costs incurred in respect of our commercial initiatives
in the community in Brazil, ‘Clean my name’. Our CR report sets out how we have calculated the costs that
directly benefit the community. No comparable initiatives and costs were incurred in the prior year.
3. Manual and skilled time volunteered during normal working hours on Experian projects. This level of
data capture was not possible in prior years.
4. Gifts in kind have been re-presented in the light of improved data capture. 41,000 free credit reports were
provided to not-for-profit advice agencies in the UK. The total amount previously reported was US$166,000.
Business overview Business review Governance Financial statements
53