Dun & Bradstreet (D&B), Australia announced a strategic partnership with identity verification services provider and developer of the greenID product, Edentiti.
Identity verification plays a critical role in meeting anti-money laundering regulations, as well as preventing identity and payment fraud. Identity fraud is estimated to cost the Australian economy in excess of $1 billion annually[i]. The partnership will complement and enhance D&B’s electronic verification (EV) offering, which is used by a substantial number of Australian businesses to confirm the identity of consumers applying for finance and credit. Over the past 12 months, D&B has processed more than 2.8 million online verifications. Dun & Bradstreet and Edentiti anticipate significant growth in online customer verification, with annual processing expected to rise to more than five million enquiries per year.
Gareth Jones, CEO of Dun & Bradstreet Australia, said the partnership supports D&B’s strategy to provide innovative solutions to its clients. “D&B is delighted to be working with Edentiti. Credit providers are increasingly looking for ways to enable self-service for their customers and accordingly, online EV solutions must evolve to ensure this need is met,” said Mr Jones. “We expect the number of successfully verified transactions will significantly increase as a result of our new partnership and of rising demand for online EV solutions that tap into a myriad of data sources.”
Edentiti has secured authorised access to the Document Verification Service (DVS), an Australian Government portal that verifies Government issued documents, including driver’s licence, Medicare, passport, visa and citizenship certificates. This will further strengthen the combined new offering.
James Smith, CEO of Edentiti, said the partnership with D&B should deliver a clear signal to the market that both organisations are committed to providing premium electronic verification solutions to businesses. “Edentiti was the first non-government organisation to secure access to the DVS,” said Mr Smith. “We are pleased to be partnering with D&B, an established and well-respected credit bureau, and look forward to leveraging our access to the DVS to provide market-leading solutions across a range of sectors, including finance, telecommunications and utilities.”
Under the terms of the partnership D&B and Edentiti will provide a joint product offering branded D&B greenID, which will be available from 1 March 2014.
[1] Australian Bureau of Statistics, Personal Fraud Survey
Source: Dun & Bradstreet Australia
