by More than 100 Financial Institutions
Card Patrolsm Protects Account Holders and Increases Confidence in Banking Transactions
NORWALK, Conn., July 16, 2008 - Affinion Security Center, a division of Affinion Group and a leading provider of identity theft protection services, announced today that more than 100 U.S. financial institutions have selected Affinion Security Center's Card Patrolsm to guard their account holders' identity. The benefits provided exclusively through Card Patrol℠ are now available to millions of consumers nationwide through national, regional, and community banks and credit unions. By helping account holders fight identity theft, these financial institutions are able to enhance loyalty and trust, and provide additional reassurance about the safety of their account holders' identity.
Card Patrol℠ provides an institution's account holders with real-time monitoring of the chat rooms where thieves buy and sell debit and credit card numbers to help prevent fraudulent charges before they occur. Account holders can register up to 10 cards and receive an instant e-notification of suspicious activity associated with any of their registered credit or debit card numbers. Additionally, consumers are also notified when other personal information appears on-line, including social security number, mother’s maiden name, and card PIN numbers.
"We believe that Card Patrol℠ is a way for financial institutions to encourage account holders to utilize online banking by signaling that they take security very seriously and have proactive solutions to address any issues," said Tom Rusin, CEO and President of Affinion Group, North America. Card Patrol℠ can help financial institutions instill confidence in online banking and build account holder loyalty."
Between January and December 2007 the Federal Trade Commission received more than 800,000 consumer fraud and identity theft complaints. The total number of identity theft victims reached 15 million in 2006 according to research firm Gartner. Card Patrol is a proactive tool in the fight against identity theft.
About Affinion Security Center
Affinion Security Center, a division of Norwalk, Conn.-based Affinion Group, is a premier security, credit monitoring and identity theft protection innovator with nearly 35 years of global experience. It launched HotLine, a leading ID theft, credit card, fraud protection and security service in 1969. PrivacyGuard, a comprehensive membership credit monitoring product which was created in 1992, remains one of the most widely used credit monitoring solutions in the U.S. In 2006, ID Secure, a sophisticated tool that uses leading-edge public records, Social Security number and credit monitoring technology to fight ID theft, was born. Another ID theft protection service in Affinion's growing security business is PC SafetyPlus, an identity theft software service that protects members with a personal firewall to thwart hackers and other online ID threats. PC SafetyPlus software features automatic updates and service upgrades for protection against prevailing computer viruses, spyware and worms. In 2008 BreachShield, the preeminent solution to corporate data breach response was introduced to the product line. Affinion Security Center is part of the steering committee of the Identity Theft Prevention and Identity Management Standards Panel (IDSP) and is a member of the Staples Security Council. For more information please visit http://www.affinion.com.
About Affinion Group
As a global leader with nearly 35 years of experience, Affinion Group (www.affinion.com) enhances the value of its partners' customer relationships by developing and marketing valuable loyalty, membership, checking account, insurance and other compelling products and services. Leveraging its expertise in product development and targeted marketing, Affinion helps generate significant incremental revenue for more than 5,300 affinity partners worldwide, including many of the largest and most respected companies in financial services, retail, travel, and Internet commerce. Based in Norwalk, Conn., the company has approximately 3,300 employees throughout the United States and in 10 countries across Europe, and markets in 14 countries globally. Affinion holds the prestigious ISO 27001 certification for the highest information security practices, is PCI compliant and Cybertrust certified. For more company and investor information visit www.affinion.com.
