Today, Edentify, Inc. (BULLETIN BOARD: EDFY), a leading provider of identity management solutions, announced that former MasterCard International executive Thomas Harkins has joined the company as Chief Operating Officer.
Harkins will help lead Edentify's business and product development efforts after spending over two decades helping MasterCard's high-profile corporate customers detect and fight fraud, data theft, and other high security risks.
"The battle against identity thieves requires the best people, the brightest minds, and the most advanced technology," says Terrence DeFranco, CEO of Edentify, Inc. "Tom's 20 years of experience at MasterCard will help us accelerate our efforts to expand our customer base, and protect greater numbers of organizations and individuals from financial losses due to identity theft and fraud."
Harkins has a proven track record of helping companies analyze their financial transactions, identify instances of criminal fraud within their systems, and develop comprehensive solutions that plug security holes. Harkins developed and implemented MasterCard's Risk Assessment Management Program (RAMP), which saved companies over $50 million annually in fraud avoidance. He personally assisted over 400 different global financial institutions in developing sound risk management platforms. He also managed the joint MasterCard and Visa Issuers Clearinghouse Service (ICS) for nine years, ultimately cutting losses due to fraudulent credit applications by 55 percent.
Harkins' first priority for Edentify will be helping to expand the company's customer base to reach more financial institutions, corporations, and government organizations. Harkins will leverage his existing relationships in the risk management community, and demonstrate the value of integrating Edentify's identity management solutions into existing fraud control systems. In addition to opening new channels for Edentify's industry- leading solutions, Harkins will be responsible for leading new product development initiatives and managing the companies' fraud management operations.
For the past ten years, Edentify has been providing solutions based on analyses of the patterns associated with identity fraud within corporations and government agencies. The company's solutions are built around a technology platform that includes the only patent issued for identity manipulation detection and identity verification systems. This technology was initially introduced in 1996, and is currently used to screen identities in nearly every major bank branch in the U.S. Since its founding, Edentify has focused its research and development efforts on expanding its suite of products, enhancing its data mapping capabilities, and making its solutions available to work on a variety of business platforms. In addition, the company is funding creative R&D efforts to develop new detection technologies that will evolve as fraudsters become more creative.
"I've developed many fraud prevention and detection systems over the years, but Edentify's technology is the most sophisticated I've ever seen," Harkins says. "Unlike other risk management products that concentrate on counterfeit losses and general instances of fraud, Edentify focuses directly on spotting and stopping identity fraud - a new and rapidly growing crime that companies, institutions, governments, and law enforcement organizations are struggling to contain. I'm looking forward to expanding Edentify's industry reach, and I'm thrilled at the prospect of helping more companies benefit from our patented fraud detection and prevention technology."