Affinion Adds Innovative Mobile Transaction Monitoring Solution to Leading Suite of Protection Services

STAMFORD, Conn., Nov. 15, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Affinion Group, a leading provider of customer engagement solutions announced today that it will be the exclusive U.S. distribution partner of Finsphere Corporation's Mobile Transaction Monitoring service to financial institutions and will offer the innovative solution as part of the company's suite of identity theft detection and consumer protection services.  Affinion is the partner of choice for large financial institutions, credit unions and retailers that want to strengthen their customer relationships by offering their customers or members valuable protection solutions.  

Mobile Transaction Monitoring allows users to opt into a sophisticated analysis that monitors for potential identity theft by comparing the user's mobile phone location with credit and debit account transaction information.  The service's unique algorithm takes into account not only a user's current location, but the historical location of the phone and previous financial transactions, as well as the transaction amount and merchant to determine whether the transaction is high-risk and whether to alert the user.  Once a user receives an alert, they can call the appropriate financial institution or an FCRA certified identity theft expert to get help in resolving any potential issues.  

"Your phone never leaves your side. Our new Mobile Transaction Monitoring benefit is an innovative way for the growing number of smartphone owners to monitor their transactions for signs of fraud. This cutting-edge technology is a great addition to our arsenal of benefits," said Ralph Bershefsky, Vice President of Affinion's New Product Development group. "We have a long history of successfully providing the latest protection solutions and helping financial institutions and retailers better meet their customers' needs and earn their trust and loyalty."

"Mobile Transaction Monitoring is at the intersection of wireless and financial industries and it represents a major change in how consumer transactions are validated and protected," said Mike Buhrmann, CEO of Finsphere. "We are extremely excited about this partnership, which will enable Affinion to leverage our technology and their vast consumer and financial resources to help tackle the global issue of fraud."

Mobile Transaction Monitoring is compatible with iPhone and Android smartphones through a downloadable app and can support customers of AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile and other mobile phone carriers.  The technology adds to Affinion's already expansive array of mobile products, which includes advanced GPS location technology for road and tow and numerous ID theft protection services.

About Affinion Group

As a global leader with almost 40 years of experience, Affinion Group (www.affinion.com) enhances the value of its partners' customer relationships by developing and marketing loyalty solutions. Leveraging its expertise in customer engagement, product development and targeted marketing, Affinion provides programs in subscription-based lifestyle services, personal protection, insurance and other areas to help generate increased customer loyalty and significant incremental revenue for more than 5,550 marketing partners worldwide, including many of the largest and most respected companies in financial services, retail, travel, and Internet commerce. Based in Stamford, Conn., the company has approximately 4,250 employees and markets in 17 countries globally. Affinion holds the prestigious ISO 27001 certification for the highest information security practices, is PCI compliant and Cybertrust certified.

About Finsphere Corporation

Based in Bellevue, Washington, Finsphere (www.finsphere.com) was founded on the simple, yet powerful vision that a mobile phone can be used as a proxy for individual's identity. This "Mobile as Identity" vision led to the development of Finsphere's Identity Security Services platform, a sophisticated expert rule-based and predictive analytics engine surrounded by a core set of patent pending identity authentication services.  This suite of solutions includes access management services for enterprise and cloud computing environments, financial fraud management services for financial institutions and online merchants, and Mobile Transaction Monitoring, a personal fraud protection service for financial services providers.  Finsphere uses its unique knowledge of identity validation and wireless technologies to offer companies effective solutions for multi-factor authentication of credit and debit card transactions, new account applications, online banking activities, mobile payments, enterprise access events and personal online identities.  

SOURCE Affinion Group