News Releases
Across the UK, Banks, Mobile Operators, Card Issuers and Consumer Finance Providers Have Joined to Fight Identity Fraud
Fourteen Leading Companies Participating in ID Analytics' UK National Study on Identity Fraud
LONDON, UK, October 26, 2004–ID Analytics Limited, the UK Identity Risk Management company, today announced that the UK National Study on Identity Fraud is officially underway, backed by many of the leading companies in the UK. The research project is the largest study of its kind ever conducted.
ID Analytics will lead and conduct the research in partnership with five of the six largest banks, three of the four largest mobile operators, five of the seven largest credit card issuers and two of the largest online and offline retail consumer finance companies in the UK. Participants are now actively contributing data to the ID Network®, the region's first real-time analytic system built from the start to detect and prevent identity fraud. This broad UK-wide collaborative effort will provide an in-depth understanding of identity fraud across the customer lifecycle.
"Detecting and preventing identity fraud and managing identity risk is a top priority for O2 UK," said Alistair Urquhart, manager – fraud for O2. "We expect our participation in the UK National Study on Identity Fraud will help our industry gain an even deeper understanding of this growing issue."
"We believe our company is at the forefront of the fight against identity fraud," said George Lennox, manager, group credit and risk at HSBC Holdings plc. "That's why it was important to us to join with other companies both within and outside of our industry to help give businesses even more tools for combating fraudsters."
A team of industry leaders from ID Analytics comprising analytic scientists, software and security resources is now beginning to analyze key identity elements from the UK ID Network. In its research, the team is identifying patterns, practices and activities indicative of identity fraud. Based on its findings, the team will build new solutions for fraud prevention that will be customised to the needs of the UK market.
"We've been reporting for some time on the size, scope and nature of the identity fraud problem," said Katy Worobec, head of risk management at the Association for Payment Clearing Services (APACS). "We look forward to the results of ID Analytics' data study, which we anticipate will provide further insight into the types and dynamics of identity fraud and fraudster methods."
In 2003, ID Analytics, Inc., the US parent of ID Analytics Limited (UK) led a similar research effort in the US which helped form the basis of the ID Network, the United States' first and only real-time national system developed exclusively to manage identity risk. As a result of this collaboration, ID Analytics is now scoring close to 10 million consumer applications a month in the US, stopping hundreds of millions of dollars in financial losses while preventing business costs associated with false positives, payment abuse and collections.
"At Capital One we're very focused on winning the battle against identity fraud," said Rob Barrett, senior fraud analyst for Capital One. "We strongly believe that an important next step in this fight is the collaboration across multiple companies and industries, so participating in this effort is important to us."
"The response and collaboration from a wide range of leading UK companies has been tremendous. In a matter of months, we will collectively have an unsurpassed understanding of identity fraud and new weapons to fight it," said Ken Morton, vice president of global sales at ID Analytics. "While the growing problem of identity fraud has been widely acknowledged in the UK, this study represents the first and only large scale cross-industry collaboration specifically focused on prevention."
About ID Analytics, Inc.
ID Analytics, the leader in Identity Risk Management, provides unprecedented real-time visibility into the risk of individuals, protecting both organizations and consumers. ID Analytics pioneered identity scoring technology and uses Advanced AnalyticsSM and the ID Network®, the nation's only real-time, cross-industry compilation of identity information, to assess risk and improve the customer experience across all consumer touchpoints. Top U.S. communication and financial service companies, as well as major retailers, government agencies and healthcare insurers, all trust ID Analytics to drive new revenue opportunities, eliminate financial losses, and protect their brand reputation with less customer friction.
ID Analytics is a registered trademark of ID Analytics, Inc. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective holders.