Harland Clarke and Intersections Inc. Form Alliance to Provide Consumer Identity Protection Services to Financial Institutions

SAN ANTONIO and CHANTILLY, Va., March 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Harland Clarke and Intersections Inc. have announced a formal alliance through which Intersections' comprehensive identity protection services will be offered to Harland Clarke's nearly 11,000 bank and credit union clients.

Financial institutions will have the option of providing these services to their account holders in two ways. Intersections' identity protection services may be included in a checking or banking account plan from the financial institutions. The financial institutions also may invite their account holders to subscribe directly to Intersections' ITAC Sentinel® service. ITAC Sentinel provides expanded monitoring of credit and personal information and assists account holders in the recovery of their identities should they become victims of identity theft. Both delivery options provide individuals with identity protection and resolution services from ITAC, the Identity Theft Assistance Center.

Long recognized for the integrated payment solutions and marketing services it delivers to the financial services industry, Harland Clarke's further expansion of its security solutions offering is consistent with its mission. According to Harland Clarke President and COO Dan Singleton, "We help our clients respond to continually evolving customer needs. To accomplish this, Harland Clarke must offer not only a broad suite of solutions, but the best value-added services available. Intersections is the leading provider of identity protection services to customers of financial institutions(1) and the ideal source of superior identity protection services for our clients' account holders." Founded in 1996, Intersections currently provides identity protection services to eight million consumers.

The continuing need for identity protection services is evident in the 2011 Identity Fraud Survey Report from Javelin Strategy & Research. In the report, an estimated 8.1 million people were victims of identity theft in 2010. The mean cost for these individuals to recover their identities increased by 63 percent in out-of-pocket costs per incident (to $631) and by 53 percent in the average time spent recovering an individual's identity (to 33 hours).(2)

"We believe that our model of education, detection, prevention, and recovery is critical to proactively combat today's and tomorrow's most sophisticated identity threats," said Intersections Chairman and CEO Michael Stanfield. "Intersections is excited to join with Harland Clarke to bring our comprehensive identity protection approach to a much broader base of financial institutions across America. The result, we hope, will be greater peace of mind for more individuals as they receive identity protection services offered to them by their trusted banks or credit unions."

CUNA Strategic Services, Inc. (CSS), a subsidiary of the Credit Union National Association (CUNA), Inc., the industry's premier national trade association, will be promoting the offering from Harland Clarke and Intersections to its members. According to CSS Senior Vice President Wes Millar, "Harland Clarke is highly regarded as a trusted resource by America's credit unions, 90 percent of whom are CUNA members. By generating greater awareness of Intersections' identity protection services, credit unions will be provided an important tool in helping protect their members' identities."

(1)Javelin Strategy & Research 2010 Annual Identity Protection Services Scorecard ranked Intersections' comprehensive suite of services as "Best in Class" for identity protection services marketed through one of its leading financial institution clients.

(2)Javelin Strategy & Research 2011 Identity Fraud Survey Report

About Harland Clarke

Harland Clarke Corp. (www.harlandclarke.com) is a leading provider of best-in-class integrated payment solutions, marketing services and security solutions. It serves clients in multiple industries including financial services, retail, healthcare, insurance, and telecommunications; and ranging in size from major corporate brands and trade groups to micro-businesses and individual consumers. Within its payment solutions business, Harland Clarke provides needed products and services to nearly 11,000 banks, credit unions and major investment firms. Harland Clarke Marketing Services' portfolio is expansive, with a dozen solutions designed to address the needs of banks and credit unions and their account holders through life cycle management. Harland Clarke delivers integrated marketing campaigns focused on acquisition, onboarding, engagement, retention, and cross-selling, utilizing extensive print, phone and email channels for campaign execution. Headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, Harland Clarke employs more than 4,500 people nationwide and operates manufacturing and contact center facilities in multiple states and communities. Harland Clarke is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Harland Clarke Holdings Corp., which also owns Harland Financial Solutions and Scantron.

About Intersections

Intersections Inc. (Nasdaq: INTX) is the leading provider of consumer and corporate identity risk management services.  Eight million consumers are actively protected by Intersections' consumer and breach remediation services offered through North America's leading financial institutions, directly to consumers under its award-winning IDENTITY GUARD® brand (www.identityguard.com), and through its exclusive partnership with ITAC, the Identity Theft Assistance Center.  Since its inception in 1996, Intersections has protected more than 30 million consumers.  

SOURCE Intersections Inc.