TransUnion and ID Analytics Announce Partnership

ID Score is a standardized, predictive risk metric that helps organizations focus their identity risk management efforts on individuals with the highest likelihood of fraud.

"As fraudsters become more technologically sophisticated, we are dedicated to providing our customers with robust fraud tools," said Mike Kiyosaki, executive vice president of TransUnion's Analytic Decision Services group.

"By creating a best-in-class identity risk management offering, TransUnion and ID Analytics are helping businesses to find new ways to protect their customers and spend more time focusing on service. This aids in optimizing resources, reducing operational costs and increasing customer satisfaction."

By combining advanced analytics and decisioning technologies with vast multi-sourced databases and in-depth understanding of business issues, TransUnion assists organizations with a full range of fraud and identity management challenges, including compliance, identity verification, authentication, business process consulting and fraud response.

Already in use by over half the credit card and wireless telecommunication markets in the U.S., as well as leading retailer, retail bank and online consumer finance companies, ID Score is now the standard for identity risk decisions. TransUnion complements ID Score by offering some of the most advanced fraud and identity management solutions available in the marketplace today.

"TransUnion is a proven, trusted player in consumer fraud protection," said Bruce Hansen, chairman and CEO of ID Analytics. "This partnership makes it more convenient for organizations exposed to fraud to leverage the power and potential of our Identity Risk Management solutions and achieve additional security against identity crimes."

Under the terms of the agreement, TransUnion is a contributing member of ID Analytics ID Network, the nation's first and only real-time identity fraud prevention system. Going forward, the companies will leverage their respective strengths and market expertise to provide enhanced fraud prevention and identity risk management solutions that meet the evolving needs of the marketplace. The new offering will be available to companies across a variety of services, including financial services, automotive finance, healthcare, rental, telecommunications and broadband.

The need for front-end identity verification and authentication tools has grown in recent years due to an increase in identity theft and other types of application fraud. With associated business losses reaching $52.6 billion last year according to a study released in January 2006 by Javelin Strategy and Research and the Better Business Bureau, many companies are taking proactive means to catch criminals in their tracks.