Axle announced a strategic collaboration with Experian on Feb. 3 to integrate real-time automotive insurance verification into Experian’s Fraud Protect platform. The integration aims to help automotive dealers and lenders detect fraud more effectively, support compliance, and accelerate vehicle transactions.

Axle operates as a universal API for insurance data, while Experian serves as a global data and technology provider. Through this collaboration, Axle’s insurance verification technology becomes part of Experian’s modular fraud-prevention workflow used by dealerships nationwide.

Adding Insurance Verification to Fraud Detection

Fraud Protect already enables dealers to validate customer identity, verify income, and confirm trade-in ownership. With the addition of Axle’s real-time insurance verification, dealers can now instantly confirm active insurance coverage during the transaction process.

The integrated solution verifies policy status, coverage limits, vehicle identification number matches, and lienholder details. Dealers access this information within a mobile-friendly workflow that connects directly to existing dealer systems.

By embedding insurance verification into Fraud Protect, dealers can ensure a customer maintains proper insurance coverage before a vehicle leaves the lot. The process occurs alongside other fraud and identity checks, allowing dealerships to review multiple risk indicators within a single workflow.

Addressing Rising Automotive Fraud

Experian research cited in the announcement highlights growing concern across the automotive sector. According to the research, 70 percent of dealers and 61 percent of lenders believe fraud is an increasing threat in the industry.

As fraud activity increases nationwide, the collaboration allows dealers to cross-check real-time insurance data alongside Experian’s analytics and identity intelligence. This combination helps identify first-party and third-party fraud, including synthetic identities, high-risk applicants, and misrepresented trade-ins.

The joint solution also aims to reduce exposure to chargebacks and buybacks by identifying potential issues earlier in the transaction process.

Executive Perspectives on the Collaboration

Robert Granados, president of Experian Automotive, said fraud is becoming more complex and increasingly targets digital retail workflows.

“Fraud is not just increasing, it is becoming more intelligent, exploiting digital retail workflows, identity gaps, and behavioral signals that legacy tools were never built to detect,” Granados said. He added that integrating Axle’s insurance verification into Fraud Protect allows dealers to assess additional identity and vehicle components while mitigating fraud risk and protecting their portfolios.

Armaan Sikand, co-founder and COO of Axle, emphasized the role of insurance data beyond compliance requirements.

“Our joint effort with Experian allows dealerships and lenders to use insurance data not just for compliance, but as a powerful fraud-prevention resource,” Sikand said. He noted that embedding Axle’s verification capabilities into Fraud Protect enables dealers to quickly confirm coverage while maintaining a seamless experience for buyers.

Technology and Workflow Integration

The collaboration focuses on maintaining a consumer-friendly experience while strengthening backend verification. Axle’s real-time insurance data integrates into Experian’s existing platform without requiring dealers to adopt separate tools or workflows.

Dealers can confirm insurance coverage through mobile interfaces that align with digital retail environments. The verification process supports both compliance checks and fraud detection without disrupting the transaction flow.

By consolidating identity, income, vehicle, and insurance verification, the integrated platform centralizes multiple risk signals in one system.

Company Backgrounds

Experian operates as a global data and technology company serving multiple industries, including financial services, healthcare, automotive, agrifinance, and insurance. The company provides data, analytics, and software to support fraud prevention, lending, digital marketing, and market insights. Experian employs more than 25,000 people across 33 countries and maintains its corporate headquarters in Dublin, Ireland. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange as part of the FTSE 100 Index.

Axle positions itself as an AI-native universal API for insurance. Fortune 500 lenders, fleet managers, and franchise dealers use Axle’s APIs and AI agents to automate insurance verification, monitor coverage, and execute real-time policy changes. The company reports that its technology helps reduce operational costs while supporting streamlined insurance processes. Axle is backed by Gradient, Google’s early-stage AI fund, Y Combinator, and leaders from Plaid and Cox Automotive.

A bill introduced this week in the California Legislature would authorize the state to pursue fossil fuel companies for insurance-related losses tied to climate-related disasters.

Senate Bill 982, titled the Affordable Insurance Recovery Act, would allow the California attorney general to file civil litigation against oil and gas companies to recover costs associated with climate-induced disasters. Those recoveries could apply to losses experienced by policyholders and by the state’s insurer of last resort, the California Fair Plan Association.

California home insurance premiums have increased at double-digit rates in recent years following a series of destructive wildfires across the state. The Eaton and Palisades fires that ignited on Jan. 7, 2025, alone are expected to generate up to $45 billion in insured losses.

At a press conference outside the state Capitol, Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, the bill’s lead author, said the proposal is intended to address who bears the financial burden of climate-related disasters. Wiener stated that survivors, taxpayers, and policyholders have absorbed rising costs through higher insurance premiums, while fossil fuel companies have not contributed to those losses.

Under the bill, recovered funds could be used to compensate policyholders for rising premiums and related expenses, including investments to harden properties against fire damage.

The California Fair Plan Association also would be eligible for compensation. The Fair Plan, which provides coverage when homeowners cannot obtain insurance in the private market, is operated and backed by the state’s licensed home insurers. Its policy count has grown significantly as insurers have reduced exposure in wildfire-prone areas.

The Fair Plan expects to pay approximately $4 billion in claims related to the January 2025 wildfires. To meet those obligations, it assessed $1 billion against its member insurers. About half of that amount is being passed on to residential policyholders statewide through a surcharge. The Fair Plan is also seeking a 36% rate increase. A spokesperson for the association declined to comment on the legislation.

Sen. Ben Allen, D-Pacific Palisades, whose district includes areas affected by the Palisades fire, is a co-author of SB 982. Supporters of the bill include the Consumer Federation of California, California Environmental Voters, and the Eaton Fire Survivors Network, a community group based in Altadena.

Industry groups oppose the measure. Jim Stanley, a spokesperson for the Western States Petroleum Association, said the bill would raise gasoline prices and harm employment. He described the proposal as a political measure that would expose oil and gas companies to liability for natural disasters across the state, which he said would lead to extensive litigation.

The legislation follows earlier efforts in California to hold energy producers financially responsible for climate-related costs. In 2023, Attorney General Rob Bonta filed suit against Exxon Mobil, Shell, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, and BP. The lawsuit alleged that the companies engaged in a long-term campaign to mislead the public about climate change, resulting in tens of billions of dollars in state expenditures related to environmental damage.

Last year, California lawmakers also considered two bills known collectively as the Polluters Pay Climate Superfund Act. Those measures would have required large oil and gas companies operating in the state to contribute to a fund supporting climate adaptation efforts. While similar laws were enacted in New York and Vermont, California’s proposal stalled amid strong industry opposition.

California is not the only state considering legislation related to insurance costs and climate-related losses. In New York, lawmakers are evaluating a bill that would allow the state attorney general and property insurers to bring legal actions against parties deemed responsible for climate-related disasters. Hawaii lawmakers are also considering similar legislation following the 2023 Maui wildfires, which caused estimated losses of $3 billion or more.

SB 982 is now under legislative review.

For years, marketers have treated brand-building and performance marketing as two separate strategies — one focused on long-term awareness, the other on short-term conversions. But in a January 2026 blog from Think with Google, Managing Director of Global Display, Video, and Creative Tony Effik reveals why that distinction no longer holds up on YouTube.

In “3 Breakthrough Brands That Prove Storytelling Performs on YouTube,” Effik highlights how brands are using storytelling not just to capture attention, but to drive measurable business outcomes across the entire customer journey. From creator partnerships to cultural relevance, these campaigns show that the right story — told in the right place — can do both.

Familiarity Builds Trust (and Sales)

One of the clearest examples comes from sun care brand Supergoop. Rather than chasing novelty, the brand leaned into repetition and consistency by partnering with YouTube creator Liza Koshy as its “Chief Super Officer.”

In the Think with Google blog, Effik explains that familiarity didn’t lead to fatigue — it led to trust. By delivering frequent placements that culminated in a hero spot ahead of peak sun season, Supergoop stayed top of mind without feeling intrusive. Viewers weren’t just entertained; they were reminded to act.

The results underscore the power of creator-led storytelling. Supergoop saw a significant lift in brand searches and improved conversion efficiency, proving that awareness-driven creative can directly influence purchase behavior when the audience trusts the messenger.

Brand Building Is a Performance Strategy

Effik also points to Olaplex as proof that long-term brand equity and short-term performance aren’t competing goals. As the brand prepared for a major rebrand, it shifted away from a purely performance-focused approach and adopted a YouTube-first storytelling strategy.

Its campaign, “Designed to Defy,” introduced a new visual identity and tagline while featuring well-known figures from fashion, entertainment, and sports. According to the Think with Google article, pairing Video reach campaigns with Demand Gen allowed Olaplex to meet consumers at multiple stages — building awareness while reigniting active interest.

The takeaway Effik emphasizes is simple but powerful: sustained growth comes from treating brand-building as a feature of performance, not a separate effort.

Cultural Relevance Can Drive Conversion

For Lucid, the challenge wasn’t just awareness — it was momentum. As a disruptor in the EV space preparing to launch its Gravity SUV, the brand needed to connect emotionally and commercially at the same time.

Effik notes that Lucid found its opportunity by placing cinematic brand storytelling alongside live NFL games and sports content, where emotional engagement is already high. By aligning its message with an audience primed for intensity and performance, Lucid turned cultural relevance into measurable demand.

The campaign delivered dramatic lifts in search interest and vehicle purchases, reinforcing the idea that a single, well-placed brand story can both shape perception and close deals.

What This Means for Marketers

As Effik concludes in the Think with Google blog, today’s customer journey is anything but linear. YouTube gives brands the ability to show up across mindsets — from passive viewing to active consideration — without fragmenting their strategy.

The brands highlighted all made different creative choices, but they shared one approach: optimizing storytelling for the platform, not forcing traditional marketing playbooks onto it. Whether that meant partnering with a trusted creator, increasing campaign cadence, or rethinking where brand films belong, each campaign treated storytelling as a growth lever — not a nice-to-have.

For marketers deciding how to reach their most receptive audiences, these examples offer a clear signal: when storytelling is intentional, platform-native, and strategically placed, it doesn’t just tell a story. It performs.