HSBC to use Experian-Scorex to improve credit decisions globally

Issued by Experian
Johannesburg, 15 May 2006

HSBC will use the Strategy Management business rules engine from Experian-Scorex, the global decision analytics business of Experian, to support lending decisions around the world.

Strategy Management was chosen after an extensive vendor evaluation. The bank will implement the software within its global credit application processing environment to help it make more accurate and timely decisions.

Strategy Management is a software solution that provides the business user with the ability to consistently deploy scoring models, portfolio segmentation, decisions and actions to control and manage customer relationships and improve risk management decisions.

George Lennox, Senior Manager, Group Credit and Risk at HSBC: "As one of the world`s leading financial organisations, it is important to us that we make use of leading-edge decision support technology.

"We undertook a rigorous evaluation of the business rules engine market and identified Strategy Management as the solution that met our criteria. In internal trials we were able to satisfy ourselves that the solution would deliver more capability but with a significant reduction in processing effort compared to its rivals. We also know that Strategy Management is robust and runs in mission-critical environments for organisations all over the world. Strategy Management`s speed, flexibility, platform independence and multi-user capability will ensure we deliver consistent decisions across our enterprise.

"Like us, Experian-Scorex operates globally but has a local focus in the markets in which it operates. This global reach combined with its experience and technology made Experian-Scorex a logical choice for HSBC. Strategy Management will undoubtedly become an integral part of our business and we expect that it will make more than 50 billion customer decisions annually for us as we roll it out across our global business."

Initially, HSBC will implement the Strategy Management business rules engine into its new business processing environment for 22 countries, replacing the existing decisioning technology, before extending it across its global operations. The solution will enable the bank to implement sophisticated decisioning techniques to define a strategy for each individual customer as they apply for new accounts. This strategic approach allows HSBC to identify the value of each customer and create tailored product packages, while meeting the needs of the business.

Roger Aubrook, president of Experian-Scorex`s global operations, said: "HSBC is a global market leader and one of Experian`s largest worldwide clients. We are extremely pleased to be a trusted partner and to further extend our relationship. Strategy Management is already used by more than 600 major financial organisations worldwide, and is a tried and tested solution that will provide HSBC with the flexibility to manage its business more effectively in its competitive markets. We nearly match HSBC with our global span, with clients in more than 60 countries and more than 30 Experian-Scorex offices worldwide, so we are well placed to assist HSBC with its challenges now and in the future."

This press release can be downloaded from http://www.experian-scorex.com or http://press.experian.com.

Strategy Management

Strategy Management provides the business user with the ability to deploy scoring models, portfolio segmentation, decisions and actions to control and manage customer relationships within the financial services and telecom industries. The solution is a multi-platform, multi-user decision support tool, allowing consistent deployment of strategies across the enterprise. As well as being able to define their strategies on their desktop, the business user is able to interactively test all aspects of their strategies as they are developed, ensuring accuracy and correctness when they are executed in the live, operational environment.

Strategy Management offers fully integrated Strategy Simulation to evaluate business scenarios to ensure the right strategies have been defined to achieve the user`s targeted business objectives. The business user is able to simulate changes at every level of the system, enabling each strategy to be evaluated for overall effectiveness. In combination with Champion/Challenger testing, changes can be made safely, quickly and with business confidence.

HSBC Holdings

HSBC Holdings plc serves over 125 million customers worldwide through 9 500 offices in 76 countries and territories in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa. With assets of US$1,502 billion at 31 December 2005, HSBC is one of the world`s largest banking and financial services organisations. HSBC is marketed worldwide as `the world`s local bank`.

Experian-Scorex

Experian-Scorex is a global leader in the supply of decision support solutions. Its solutions support billions of customer decisions annually for clients in more than 60 countries. Experian-Scorex solutions bring together predictive analytics, decision support technologies and strategy optimisation to enrich customer data and allow organisations to proactively manage their relationships with their customers.

Used across the full customer lifecycle, enterprise-wide decision support solutions enable organisations to increase income, manage and control credit risk and fraud, reduce operational costs and so increase overall profitability. Experian-Scorex works closely with clients across diverse industries, including financial services, telecommunications, retail, leasing, automotive, insurance and utilities.

Experian-Scorex solutions and services focus on extracting intelligence from all customer data sources in order to build a comprehensive picture of customer needs and financial stability. This customer level view and the ability to deliver customer level decisioning has proved to be particularly important in retail banking, where a customer may hold multiple products. For over 20 years, Experian-Scorex has provided these solutions to the majority of the world`s largest retail banks to help them manage these complex relationships.

As part of the global Experian organisation, Experian-Scorex has more than 30 years experience of managing bureau data, adding intelligence to that data and delivering scoring solutions. Experian-Scorex maintains connectivity with over 70 credit bureaux worldwide and, with over 30 offices around the world, it is uniquely qualified to support local, national, regional and global businesses.

Its global headquarters are in Nottingham, UK, Monaco, and Costa Mesa, CA, USA.

For more information, visit the company`s Web site on www.experian-scorex.com.

Experian-Scorex is an Experian company. Experian`s 12 000 people support clients in more than 60 countries and annual sales exceed lb1.5 billion. For more information, visit the company`s Web site at www.experian.com.

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