The ASEAN Financial Innovation Network (AFIN) announced today that Experian has joined its Strategic Advisory Council. AFIN is established by the ASEAN Bankers Association, the International Finance Corporation and the Monetary Authority of Singapore. AMTD Foundation and Mastercard are its Corporate Founding Members. Logo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20191111/2638379-1 Through its role on the Strategic Advisory Council, Experian will support the overall development of AFIN and its flagship product, API Exchange (APIX). APIX is a global cloud-based platform that enables financial institutions and fintechs to discover one another on a curated global marketplace, design experiments collaboratively in the sandbox and deploy innovative solutions rapidly at a lower cost. Experian has a broader strategy to accelerate financial access, invest in digital transformation and provide better credit access to a wider group of individuals and small businesses in the ASEAN region. Together Experian and the Strategic Advisory Council will accelerate the financial ecosystem to become API-ready across Asia Pacific. Experian joins six other organisations on the Strategic Advisory Council: AMTD Foundation, Mastercard, BNY Mellon, Amazon Web Services, Singapore Fintech Association and Brankas. AFIN is carefully selecting strategic partners to join the Strategic Advisory Council with more announcements to be made over the coming months. "We are thrilled to have Experian join APIX on the Strategic Advisory Council and look forward to working with them closely. Experian's capabilities to enhance digital transformation and their experience in the ecosystem will be a big advantage for APIX and all its members," said Manish Diwaan, Managing Director of AFIN. "It is a great honour for Experian to be a part of the AFIN Strategic Advisory Council. This provides us a platform to actively collaborate with other members of the council to shape the overall financial innovation ecosystem and accelerate our vision of driving greater financial inclusion across the region. This also represents a validation of Experian's strategic regional investments in the recent past and our ongoing R&D efforts with our Singapore-based APAC innovation facility - Experian X Labs, reaffirming our commitment to be an agent of responsible change in APAC," said Ben Elliott, CEO Asia-Pacific of Experian. "The financial services industry is at a pivotal stage with traditional financial institutions' erstwhile linear value chain transforming into different unbundled value creation ecosystems with the advent of open banking. We are excited about the opportunity to play a leading role in the transformation of the financial sector, helping organisations to embrace the next wave of financial market development and customer-centric value creation," he added. About AFIN AFIN is a non-profit organisation founded by the ASEAN Bankers Association (ABA), the World Bank's IFC and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). Its Corporate Founding Members are AMTD Foundation and Mastercard. AFIN's objective is to support experimentation and collaboration between financial institutions and financial technology service providers so as to promote greater financial innovation and inclusion in ASEAN and beyond. AFIN has launched an open-architecture platform, API Exchange (APIX), to support such collaborations across the region. The focus of its efforts will be on helping financial institutions to expand access to finance, especially in the less developed markets in the region. www.apixplatform.com About Experian Experian(R) 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 17,200 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. SOURCE Experian