ATLANTA -

Equifax is getting more into what you might describe as fintech farming, so to speak.

On Tuesday Equifax introduced InnovationX that the company said is a new immersive experience to help fintechs, established financial institutions and other organizations accelerate innovation in today’s competitive market.

Perhaps as a slight agriculture reference, Equifax described this project as a “unique testing ground” for new financial services products that can enable organizations to validate ideas and understand new markets with ready access to real-time, cloud-native data and advanced analytics

According to a news release, InnovationX will be led by Peter Maynard, the newly appointed senior vice president of data and analytics for Equifax United States Information Solutions (USIS).

“E-commerce and financial services have converged. Customers expect the same convenience, flexibility and personalized experience from the financial services companies they interact with as they do major e-commerce retailers,” Equifax USIS president Sid Singh said in the news release.

“InnovationX was created to help financial institutions of all sizes create experiences that stand apart from the competition,” Singh continued. “We’re inviting organizations to test and validate their ideas using our unique data and analytics expertise — working hands-on with Peter Maynard and our USIS Data and Analytics team to innovate at the speed of now.”

With new innovations being developed in close collaboration with Equifax executive leadership and the company’s data science, Equifax thinks InnovationX can bring fintechs and other companies the insights they need to drive change for their customers and smarter revenue for their businesses.

By participating in the InnovationX immersive experience, organizations can:

— Quickly test and bring new solutions to market with real-time access to data and analytics, and cloud-native, differentiated data assets that Equifax can provide. Equifax Data Fabric will enable access to the precise data needed to expand an organization’s view of their customers, create new financial opportunities for unbanked or underbanked individuals and make more informed decisions while managing risk.

— Leverage patented Equifax Explainable Artificial Intelligence (xAI) and Machine Learning (ML) techniques to analyze massive structured and unstructured data sets rapidly

— Choose from a menu of customizable options to create the model configuration with segmentation, data source and modeling techniques that work best for their business

—Drive greater digital identity trust for each identity behind every payment, account creation and login event — blocking fraud in real-time and enabling personalized customer experiences

Maynard has spent seven years in enterprise analytics leadership roles at Equifax. He brings more than two decades of experience to the role of senior vice president of data and analytics and joined Equifax from a major financial institution, where he spent more than 10 years leading application risk and response modeling.

Under Maynard’s leadership, Equifax said InnovationX will offer businesses the insights they need to deliver convenience, flexibility and a more personalized experience to their customers.

“Predictive data and advanced analytics are at the heart of fintech innovation and competitive advantage,” Maynard said.

“InnovationX enables us to work side-by-side with customers to help them harness the power of data as they prepare to launch new solutions, remain ahead of changing credit risk patterns, reduce fraud and create better customer experiences in an increasingly competitive environment,” he went on to say.

The Equifax InnovationX immersive experience is open now in Atlanta with in-person and virtual sessions designed in accordance with COVID-19 social-distancing guidelines.

For more information or to get started, visit Equifax.com.