SINGAPORE, Sept. 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Experian – the world's leading global information services company – has received the Community Collaboration Award at Asia Corporate Excellence & Sustainability Awards (ACES) 2021. The ACES Awards were established in 2014 by the MORS Group, a leadership and sustainability research and education organisation, and honours companies and individuals in Asia across a variety of leadership and corporate social responsibility categories.
Experian is committed to creating a better tomorrow for all
Experian is the only winner in the Community Collaboration Award category, which is a jury special mention category introduced this year to recognise organisations that have built effective and productive relationships with external stakeholders to meet social development objectives. The winners of the Community Collaboration Award are differentiated by their corporate responsibility initiatives that focus on long-term relationships and commitments, creating direct economic and development opportunities for communities.
Experian's priority across Asia Pacific is driving financial inclusion, with its corporate responsibility programme designed to help vulnerable communities improve the quality of their lives. According to the World Bank, around 1.7 billion adults remain unbanked globally, with most of the unbanked population residing in Asia Pacific and more than one billion in this region lack access to formal financial services. Through its corporate responsibility initiatives, Experian strives to ensure everyone has equal access to financial identities and essential financial services in Asia Pacific.
Driving corporate responsibility initiatives across APAC during the pandemic
Experian's programmes help communities in Australia, Greater China, Japan, India, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam by working closely with local partners to develop sustainable, long-term initiatives that deliver impact, with the goal of helping vulnerable communities who need more support during the COVID-19 pandemic.
With the shift to learning and working from home amidst ongoing lockdowns, Experian strove to help communities in need. Right before the circuit breaker period in Singapore in April 2020, Experian donated 50 repurposed laptops to Daughters of Tomorrow, a non-government organisation (NGO) in Singapore, which would benefit lower-income families. The laptops would help underprivileged women to access online learning and look for jobs, and for their children to continue with online learning. In Australia, Experian donated 25 repurposed laptops to McClelland College in Melbourne, its school partner since 2014, to help less fortunate students continue with online learning. In August 2020, Experian repurposed 42 laptops to donate to SJKT Thamboosamy Pillai, a primary school in Malaysia, for students to learn from home.
Experian's employees remain dedicated to giving back to their communities, with Experian pivoting to digital volunteering programmes to ensure the safety of all participants. For example, Experian partners with Missing Maps, a humanitarian project, to host monthly Mapathons which are all held online and accessible via a website. Experian's employees in Asia Pacific can map digitally to enable first responders and healthcare workers to deliver essential supplies to households that were not previously registered on a map.
The Experian Asia Pacific CSR team also led the charge in a recent global employee fundraising drive to aid India, raising funds for communities impacted by COVID-19 and various NGOs helping these communities navigate the pandemic. Experian also matched the employee fundraiser with a corporate donation, which resulted in more than US$780,000 being raised.
"Experian is committed to helping the people in the communities that we live and operate in," says Sisca Margaretta, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer, Experian Asia Pacific. "I'm very proud of what we have achieved collectively as it shows that corporate responsibility is deeply ingrained in Experian's culture, and this ACES Award is a recognition of it. It demonstrates how our people remain passionate and continue to give back to communities in Asia Pacific during the pandemic. At Experian, we believe everyone deserves access to fair and affordable credit, and we're working to eliminate credit invisibility and improve financial equity and access for all. We believe data has the potential to transform lives, and we will continue to use our innovative technology and data to help people to be financially included and transform their lives."
About Experian
Experian is the world's leading global information services company. During life's big moments – from buying a home or a car, to sending a child to college, to growing a business by connecting with new customers – we empower consumers and our clients to manage their data with confidence. We help individuals to take financial control and access financial services, businesses to make smarter decisions and thrive, lenders to lend more responsibly, and organisations to prevent identity fraud and crime.
We have 17,800 people operating across 44 countries and every day we're investing in new technologies, talented people and innovation to help all our clients maximise every opportunity. We are listed on the London Stock Exchange (EXPN) and are a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
Learn more at www.experian.com.sg or visit our global content hub at our global news blog for the latest news and insights from the Group.
