Intersections, Inc., creator of award-winning Identity Guard, and Harland Clarke Corporation, a leading provider in integrated payment solutions, recently formed a partnership to provide identity theft protection services to more than 11,000 Harland Clarke banking industry clients. The joint venture is part of Intersections Inc. plans for expansion and Harland Clarke’s mission to expand its security solutions and marketing services to the financial industry.
Terms of the Alliance
Under the terms of the agreement financial institutions will be able to provide their customers with two security options. The first option involves the inclusion of Intersections’ Identity Guard services in a checking or banking account plan that the consumer chooses or the account holder can opt into the identity theft protection service as a standalone option.
The service is known as ITAC Sentinel which is provided by Intersections, Inc. and provides the consumer with extended monitoring of credit and personal information. ITAC stands for Identity Theft Assistance Center and provides consumers in financial institutions with assistance in the event their identity is stolen, resolution services, and identity theft protection for sensitive data associated with banking information.
The partnership between Intersections, Inc. and Harland Clarke is partially to fulfill a consumer need and in response to an Identity Fraud Survey Report from Javelin Strategy and Research. The report showed that during the year 2010 approximately 8 million consumers were affected by identity theft with an out-of-pocket cost increase by nearly 63 percent. The average time a consumer spent with the recovery process increased by 53 percent.
Results of the Partnership
The partnership between Intersections Inc. and Harland Clarke will provide a comprehensive identity theft protection approach that will have a broader reach to financial institutions across the United States. It is the hope of both Harland Clarke and Intersections Inc. that the project will bring piece of mind to a greater number of consumers by providing a convenient way to tap into identity theft protection services for their specific financial institution or credit union.
CUNA Strategic Services, Inc. will be promoting the identity theft protection services provided by the partnership between Intersections, Inc. and Harland Clarke to all of its members. CUNA is the Credit Union National Association in which CUNA Strategic Services is a subsidiary. Harland Clarke is a trusted resource by credit unions throughout the United States and more than 90 percent of the credit unions across the US are members of CUNA. Harland Clarke provides integrated payment solutions, marketing services, and security solutions to more than 11,000 banks, credit unions, and major investment firms.
Intersections, Inc. is known for its Identity Guard solution and provides a variety of consumer and corporate identity risk management services. The company formed an exclusive partnership with the Identity Theft Assistance Center which is the national voice for victims of identity theft and identity policy. Intersection Inc. is the exclusive service provider of ITAC Victim Assistance. If the consumer’s financial institution is an ITAC member and supporter, the consumer can be granted access to ITAC services with the identity theft protection services provided by Intersections, Inc.
For more information on Identity Guard’s services, read our Identity Guard review.
