NORWALK, Conn., Jan. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Affinion Security Center, a leading provider of identity theft protection services, announced today that more than 200 U.S. and Canadian financial institutions have selected Affinion Security Center's Card Patrol(SM) to offer their account holders protection against identity theft.
The benefits provided exclusively through Card Patrol are now available to approximately 10 million account holders nationwide through national, regional, and community banks and credit unions. Card Patrol marketing by financial institutions has increased 100 percent in the past five months - in July, Affinion announced Card Patrol had been marketed by over 100 financial institutions; demonstrating a 100 percent increase in the last six months.
Card Patrol protects an institution's account holders through 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 ten account numbers and receive an instant e-notification of suspicious activity associated with any of their registered credit or debit card numbers. Additionally, consumers are notified when other personal information appears on-line or in chat rooms, including social security number, mother's maiden name, and card PIN numbers.
"The rapid growth of this program indicates consumers' increased attention to the threat of identity theft, the link to personal finance and consumers' reliance on trusted financial partners to provide them with reliable solutions," said Tom Rusin, CEO of Affinion Security Center.
"We strategically evaluate each service provider that we recommend to our customers in an effort to provide only the most relevant and valued options," said Serge Rivest, executive vice president of sales and marketing for Davis + Henderson, a leading provider of programs to the Canadian financial services industry. "Card Patrol has been successful in increasing awareness of identity theft as it continues to claim more victims worldwide. This service has been a benefit that many of our customers take advantage of."
