ID Analytics, Inc., the Identity Risk Management technology company, today announced its entrance into Europe. The company also announced it has begun work on its United Kingdom National Study on Identity Fraud, a far-reaching research initiative similar to the one ID Analytics completed in the United States last September. As part of this expansion, ID Analytics is co-investing with ten leading U.K.-based companies to perform the study.
Since its inception, ID Analytics has provided U.S.-based consumer companies in multiple industries with advanced technologies to proactively prevent identity fraud and manage identity fraud risk at the point of application. ID Analytics will now offer its solutions globally, beginning in Europe. To oversee this expansion, the company has named Ken Morton as vice president and general manager for Europe.
"Identity fraud is on the rise in Europe and is often difficult to detect due to the growing sophistication of criminals," said Morton. "The comprehensive research findings and client results already achieved in the U.S. give us a great start in tackling identity fraud in Europe. This study will deliver an unprecedented understanding of U.K. identity fraud, providing companies across Europe with a clearer picture of how to authenticate legitimate customers and pinpoint potential fraud."
"The launch of our international expansion comes at a time of incredible progress here in the United States, following the success of the U.S. National Report on Identity Fraud and the rapid deployment of our ID Score product across multiple industries," said Bruce Hansen, chairman and CEO of ID Analytics. "We've already seen tremendous interest in the U.K. from the top credit grantors, banks and wireless carriers. And the addition of Ken Morton to the team has really accelerated our move into Europe."
Morton brings to ID Analytics 20 years of experience establishing operations and driving the expansion of software companies in Europe. Most recently, he was general manager for Europe for Covigo (now Symbol Technologies, Inc.), where he had full responsibility for the U.S. company's entry into the U.K., Germany, and the Netherlands, closing initial contracts in all three countries. Prior to Covigo, Morton was general manager of Europe, Middle East and Asia for E.piphany, a publicly traded customer relationship management (CRM) company. Morton joined E.piphany when the company purchased Octane Software, where he was general manager for Europe and started the European operations.
The U.K. government estimates that identity fraud costs the U.K. at least £1.3 billion (U.S.$2.3 billion) a year. The explosion of identity fraud is reported on a daily basis in the U.K. media, particularly from the perspective of consumer victims who are estimated by the U.K. Home Office to need an average of 300 hours each to reverse related damages. The U.K. Credit Industry's Fraud Prevention Service (CIFAS), which reports over 100,000 cases of identity fraud per year, describes identity fraud as the leading type of fraud in the U.K.
In collaboration with 13 U.S. companies representing over half the credit and retail card market in the U.S., as well as leading wireless and online consumer finance companies, ID Analytics spent a year reviewing more than 200 million records, including valid and fraudulent consumer applications for credit, debit and new accounts, together with the largest collection of cross industry known frauds to date. Working with this unique set of data selected specifically for its predictive value, ID Analytics was able to gain insight into thousands of fraudulent behavioral patterns that were not identified with current fraud detection methods. This research enabled ID Analytics to produce the largest-ever research report on the problem of identity fraud. The findings also formed the basis of ID Analytics' groundbreaking Identity Risk Management solutions, which significantly reduce losses caused by identity fraud, and help clients better identify and effectively manage fraud risk.