Credentials Solutions & SCRIP-SAFE International Inc. Announce Merger

NORTHFIELD, Ill., Sept. 24, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The two leading companies in the college transcript delivery industry today announced a first-of-its-kind merger that will create the single largest transcript service provider to colleges, universities, students and alumni at hundreds of schools nationwide.

The merger unites Northfield, IL-based Credentials Solutions and eSCRIP-SAFE®, a division of Loveland, OH-based SCRIP-SAFE® International Inc., to form a new entity called Credentials eSCRIP-SAFE. The announcement was made jointly by Credentials Solutions CEO Thomas McKechney and SCRIP-SAFE Security Products Inc. President and CEO Joe Orndorff. The new company will be headquartered in Northfield, IL with additional operations in Ohio and Nevada.

The SCRIP-SAFE® paper and Diplomas on Demand® divisions are not part of the merger and will continue as the world's largest paper transcript supplier under control of SCRIP-SAFE® Security Products Inc., printing more than 28,000,000 transcript sheets annually for over 1,800 customers.

Credentials eSCRIP-SAFE primarily services the registrar's office at colleges and universities nationwide, as well as the students and alumni of those institutions. The goal of the merger is to add an expanding array of value-added solutions to the industry-leading transcript ordering and fulfillment services provided to college and university registrars. Credentials eSCRIP-SAFE will continue to provide the best range of transcript delivery services and support at the most reasonable price. To help achieve that objective, the company will maintain multiple server locations and operations centers to provide best-in-class document security and uninterrupted, world class customer service in a FERPA compliant environment.

Under the terms of the agreement, Credentials Solutions will merge the eSCRIP-SAFE Division of SCRIP-SAFE International into its unit of operations that provides safe, easy and secure delivery of transcripts to colleges, universities, students, alumni and other organizations.

"This is a great and important day for the transcript industry," McKechney said in making the announcement. "With this merger, Credentials eSCRIP-SAFE becomes the largest provider in the eTranscript outsourcing marketplace and boasts the largest client base as measured by institutional enrollment, as well as the largest network of eTranscript receiving institutions. We are now the clear leader in terms of technological innovation, product quality, and customer service." McKechney continued, "Credentials eSCRIP-SAFE will offer the broadest range of transcript automation tools in the industry featuring Credentials' groundbreaking advanced automation tool, RoboRegistrar®, as well as the recently introduced APIs from Ellucian™. Regardless of which SIS platform an institution uses, Credentials eSCRIP-SAFE will have a solution."

Credentials eSCRIP-SAFE will offer a full complement of transcript ordering, along with automated processing and fulfillment services, real-time transcript delivery, and comprehensive reporting functions. It will provide the largest vetted, secured, single sign-on electronic transcript delivery network in the nation, as measured by institutional enrollment in the postsecondary education market. Credentials eSCRIP-SAFE will serve a client base of over 800 client institutions and an estimated 5.2 million students. In addition, the merged company will boast a network of almost 2,900 electronic transcript receivers.

Orndorff added that a desire to provide improved service to customers of both companies was at the core of the merger. "Because our business and customer service philosophies are so similar, SCRIP-SAFE and Credentials have been discussing the idea of a merger for several years," he said. "This day has been carefully planned to insure that each of our customers receive significant benefits and new incentives for creating even stronger business relationships. Credentials eSCRIP-SAFE will continue to separate itself from the competition because this is not a new company, but the combination of two honest and trusted pioneers that are stronger as one company."

ABOUT CREDENTIALS SOLUTIONS

Credentials Solutions develops innovative transcript solutions to fit the unique needs of Higher Education. RoboRegistrar® has been automating transcript processing since 2003, while an expansive network of senders and receivers allows students, alumni, institutions and organizations to exchange PDF, EDI and XML formats. Coupling this electronic transcript reach with print and mail service eRoboMail® streamlines the entire transcript process from ordering through fulfillment. As a service company, all solutions are supported with dedicated Client Relationship Managers for institutions and world-class Customer Service Representatives answering student and alumni inquiries. While some transcript vendors believe they are entitled to business, Credentials Solutions earns it every day, by constantly evolving and providing unmatched innovation, automation, optimization and service.

ABOUT SCRIP-SAFE

Founded in 1989 by President and CEO Joe Orndorff, SCRIP-SAFE® Security Products, Inc. began its business by recognizing the urgent need to protect academic records from fraudulent misuse. As transcript misuse continued to grow, new security features were developed and quickly adopted by customers as institutional standards. Now the leading document security innovator, SCRIP-SAFE provides a suite of secure solutions including paper and electronic transcripts, custom diploma papers, secured corporate papers and desktop diploma software to over 1,800 national and international corporations, colleges and universities. The eSCRIP-SAFE® Global Electronic Delivery Network delivers PDF transcripts to over 2,400 schools and organizations worldwide.

Media Contact
Dan Gajos
Manager of Marketing & Corporate Communications
Credentials Solutions
Phone: 847-716-3025
Email: [email protected]

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SOURCE Credentials Solutions