News

A new focus

July 19, 2006

This article appeared in the ATM & Financial Self-Service Executive Summary, Summer 2006.

Identity theft is one of the fastest-growing crimes in the nation. The Federal Trade Commission estimates that 10 million Americans this year will have their personal information stolen.

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Headlines attest to the growing crisis. The Associated Press reported in May that more than 26 million active-duty military personnel and veterans could be at risk after their personal information was stolen from a Veterans Affairs database. In June the FBI recovered the laptop with its database intact.

Educating consumers about identity theft is quickly becoming a priority within the banking industry, said Linda Bridgeford, president of Credit Professionals International, a non-profit organization that educates retail credit professionals and consumers.

"It's vital for anyone in the banking or credit industry to keep up with the latest scams," Bridgeford said. "Identity theft has become one of the hottest topics at our regional and national conferences."

Despite increased awareness, many people don't realize they could be at risk, she said.

Identity alert

New products and services aimed at preventing identity theft are quickly entering the market. Take Cincinnati-based Fifth Third Processing Solutions, a division of Fifth Third Bank Corp., as an example. The bank soon expects to roll out its identity-theft-prevention service, called Fifth Third Identity Alert, across the nation.

Customers enrolling in Fifth Third Identity Alert receive:

• Daily e-mail alerts about credit-report changes from credit bureaus Trans Union, Experian and Equifax.
• Unlimited access to credit reports and scores.
• $25,000 in ID-theft protection.
• 24/7 fraud resolution and recovery support from trained specialists.

Identity Alert will be offered free to Fifth Third checking-account customers who have multiple bank products, including Fifth Third's electronic or Platinum checking accounts and/or the bank's bill-payment service.

The service was piloted in Columbus, Ohio, and western Michigan in October.

"We've been really impressed with how well the pilot program has gone so far," said Michelle VanDyke, affiliate president with a Fifth Third branch that piloted the product. "Having been a victim of identity theft myself, I realize what a nightmare it can be for a consumer."

During the pilot, Fifth Third found that many customers don't understand the difference between debit and credit fraud - usually the result of an electronic security breach or skimming - and identity theft - the unauthorized use of personal information to open fraudulent credit accounts.

Although card compromises are quickly detected and fraudulent charges are often reversed, customers can spend up to 600 hours cleaning up their credit reports, according to the FTC. As a remedy, Fifth Third is marketing Identity Alert to its customers as a tool of convenience.

"We discovered during the pilot program that this product is a wonderful retention tool, and we think it would be valuable for other FIs in recruiting new customers," said Angela Brown of TrueCredit, a subsidiary of California-based Trans Union.

"It gives consumers an added value by offering one more level of security against identity theft."