New Approach Will Save Small Businesses Valuable Time and Money.

Costa Mesa and San Mateo, Calif. Sept 21, 2016 – Experian®, the leading global information services company, and Nav, the only free source for both personal and business credit scores, today announced a strategic partnership to provide small businesses greater transparency into their business and personal credit data, along with instant access to their most-qualified financing options based on their credit profile. This new and free approach saves small businesses valuable time and money, helping to fuel economic growth in one of America’s most important sectors.

“Together, Experian and Nav empower business owners by providing deep insight into their credit profiles, which enables greater access to capital and helps them uncover new growth opportunities,” says Hiq Lee, president of Experian’s Business Information Services. “Working with Nav is a natural fit, because they share our commitment to providing the education resources and innovative tools that small businesses need to successfully manage their financial well-being and improve their bottom line.”

“Together, Experian and Nav empower business owners by providing deep insight into their credit profiles, which enables greater access to capital and helps them uncover new growth opportunities.”

Transparency, Education and Streamlined Financing

Despite being a significant economic driver, 72 percent of small businesses[1] get turned down for traditional loans. Moreover, the average Annual Percentage Rate for an alternative loan is 94 percent. If small businesses are really going to thrive in America, business owners need to know how to qualify for—and get connected to—funding they can afford.

By working together, Experian and Nav are able help small businesses do this by leveraging Experian’s deep levels of data on consumers and businesses and Nav’s technology platform, which is already used by more than 150,000 small business owners. The new collaboration will provide business owners with the personal and business credit data lenders use to evaluate them, actionable tools to help improve their business profiles, and an algorithm that matches them to their most-qualified funding options based on their actual data before they apply – all quickly and easily within a secure environment.

“Partnering with Experian strengthens our commitment to small businesses and is a validation of our mission,” says Levi King, CEO and cofounder of Nav. “By empowering small businesses with the technology to improve their credit and streamline access to financing, Nav and Experian can help fuel small business success, dreams and economic growth.”

“Partnering with Experian strengthens our commitment to small businesses and is a validation of our mission.”

Nav recently completed its series B funding of $25 million from existing investors and new investors including Experian. Experian is the lead investor in the round and will also secure a seat on Nav’s Board. Financial Technology Partners LP served as exclusive strategic advisor to Nav in this transaction.

About Experian’s Business Information Services

Experian’s Business Information Services is a leader in providing data and predictive insights to organizations, helping them mitigate risk and improve profitability. The company’s business database provides comprehensive, third-party-verified information on virtually all U.S. companies, with the industry’s most extensive data on the broad spectrum of small and midsize businesses.

By leveraging state-of-the-art technology and superior data-compilation techniques, Experian provides market-leading tools that proactively support the entire credit life cycle, enabling our clients to find new customers, process new applications, manage customer relationships and collect on delinquent accounts.

About Experian

We are the leading global information services company, providing data and analytical tools to our clients around the world. We help businesses to manage credit risk, prevent fraud, target marketing offers and automate decision making. We also help people to check their credit report and credit score and protect against identity theft. In 2016, for the third year running, we were named one of the “World’s Most Innovative Companies” by Forbes magazine.

We employ approximately 17,000 people in 37 countries and our corporate headquarters are in Dublin, Ireland, with operational headquarters in Nottingham, UK; California, US; and São Paulo, Brazil.

Experian plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange (EXPN) and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 index. Total revenue for the year ended March 31, 2016, was US$4.6 billion.

To find out more about our company, please visit http://www.experianplc.com or watch our documentary, “Inside Experian.”

About Nav

Nav is the only site and app giving free access to personal and business credit reports, self-serve tools to help build business credit and a financing marketplace with MatchFactor technology that estimates approval odds based on credit profiles. This all helps business owners get more funding, lower their costs and save time so they can run and grow their business the way they want. More than 150,000 small business owners are already using Nav to get their business and personal credit scores and access financing for free.  Nav has partnered with more than 40 of the top business lenders and credit cards. Nav has offices in Silicon Valley and Salt Lake City. For more information visit nav.com, and follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

Read a note from Nav’s founders about the partnership here.

[1] 2013 Federal Reserve Bank of New York small business owner study: https://www.newyorkfed.org/smallbusiness/Fall2013/index.html

Experian and the Experian marks used herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of Experian Information Solutions, Inc. Other product and company names mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.

Nav marks used herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of Nav, Inc. Other product and company names mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.