Updates

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Date: 5 March 2025

We are thrilled to announce an enhancement to the CAIS processing logic that will provide greater flexibility and accuracy in reporting. Previously, the deceased flag could only be reported against status codes U/8. With the latest update, this flag can now be reported against any status code, reflecting the true standing of the account. What Does This Mean for You?

1. Increased Flexibility: Data providers now have the ability to report the deceased flag against any status code. This change allows for more accurate representation of account statuses, ensuring that the data reflects the true situation.
2. Reduced Validation Failures: By enabling the deceased flag to be reported against all status codes, we anticipate a reduction in validation failures. This improvement streamlines the reporting process, making it more efficient and less prone to errors.
3. Enhanced Data Accuracy: Accurate data is crucial for effective decision-making. This enhancement ensures that the information reported is precise, which in turn supports better outcomes for all stakeholders involved. We believe this update will greatly benefit our clients by providing a more robust and reliable reporting system. As always, we are committed to continuously improving our services to meet your needs.

For any questions or further information, please do not hesitate to contact our support team. Thank you for your continued partnership.

You may have recently been made aware of an upcoming change to the Credit Reference Agency Information Notice (CRAIN), a document which explains how Credit Reference Agencies (CRAs) such as Experian obtain, process and share personal data about consumers and businesses. This change is now live and you can find the updated document on our website.

The previous version (1.1) was introduced in March 2022 so needed a refresh to ensure that it accurately reflects what happens today. For example, a recent development was the agreement for CAIS data to be shared with gambling companies.

If you followed our previous guidance and linked to the existing CRAIN document, there is no action required as the link has been updated automatically. However, if you have used a copy of the text for any webpages or training collateral, you will need to ensure that the wording is updated.

If you have any queries about the CRAIN, please refer to the FAQs. Alternatively, you can contact your Account Manager or e-mail CAISConsultancy@uk.experian.com for any general enquiries.

Just a reminder that our CAIS load process is automated so, unless our QC rules detect significant changes in your volumes, your submission file will be passed and loaded automatically within a few minutes of it being received. Once loaded, the file is ingested into the bureau so cannot be deleted. Please bear this in mind and ensure that you have completed thorough data quality checks on your file before submitting.

Account Type Volume Changes: January to September 2024

As a consequence of company acquisitions, supplier data migrations and Experian’s onboarding of new suppliers the make-up of the Experian consumer bureau has changed over the course of 2024. This is due to new consumer records being added or records being moved between account types. Overall the number of records per identity has increased with the average number of data items returned per search above 8. This means that we can provide a more rounded and complete view of consumers’ payment performance providing a more appropriate view to produce good Consumer Duty outcomes.

There has been a decrease in records classified as Gas (Account Type 40 - decrease 6,701,196), Electricity (Account Type 41 - decrease: 5,914,058) and Dual Fuel (Account Type 43 - decrease: 1,802,640). However this is more than compensated by an increase in the number of records in Public Utility (Account Type 21) increasing by 16,138,919 and Water (Account Type 39) has increased by 378,784.

There has also been an increase in the number of Current Accounts (Account Type 15) by 3,617,013 over the same period.

Other account types seeing an increase are Unsecured Loan (Personal Loans, etc.) (Account Type 02) by 3,281,126, Communications (Account Type 18) by 2,911,693 and Credit Card / Store Card (Account Type 05) by 2,087,888. On the flip side there has been a reduction in Home Credit (Account Type 61) by 1,999,205 and Mail Order (Account Type 08) by 952,165.

Request a new STS account

To request a new STS account please e-mail the following details to client.supportolcs@uk.experian.com.

• Subject title: Include the word ‘User’ to enable auto routing of the ticket 
• Client name 
• New user's name 
• User's e-mail address 
• Mirror ID (of a user with access to the STS folder required) 
• Product (if applicable)

SSH key update

Any clients that have an issue with their SSH key can contact globalfiletransfer-uk@experian.com.

Additional 6m Utility accounts loaded

As part of our commitment to providing you with the most appropriate and up to date services, it’s important for us to have a 360-degree understanding of a consumer’s credit commitments. So, at the end of July 2024, we expanded our Consumer CAIS database to include an additional 6m utility accounts. These additional records will benefit all products that use CAIS data and any returned results may show a sudden increase in accounts. This is expected and is beneficial in providing more data points for our customers.

The expansion of data will provide information on some of the UK population who currently have a thin credit file as well as improve the coverage, diversity and quality of our CAIS database. In turn, it will help you with assessing risks, improving authentication rates and making more accurate & profitable lending decisions.#

We have undertaken extensive analysis to understand if there may be any potential degradation following the addition of these accounts. Our results do not show any significant impact to the predictability of our bureau scorecards, or key Delphi hit rates.

If you have any questions regarding this additional data, please get in touch with our New CAIS team at newcais@experian.com.

New version of the CAIS file specification available

A new version of the CAIS file specification (v15) has been published to provide additional guidance and has been amended to align with the new common industry format due to launch in the coming months. Please use this version going forward for any questions about how to supply Consumer CAIS data to Experian.

Secure Transfer System (STS)

If you have any problems with uploading your file(s) on STS, the service desk can be contacted by phone on 0333 000 3030 or by email at TS.servicedesk@uk.experian.com.

To request a new STS account please e-mail the following details to client.supportolcs@uk.experian.com

• Subject title: Include the word ‘User’ to enable auto routing of the ticket 
•  Client name 
• New user's name 
•  User's e-mail address 
• Mirror ID (of a user with access to the STS folder required) 
•  Product (if applicable)

Any clients that have an issue with their SSH key can contact globalfiletransfer-uk@experian.com