Unisys partner with UK firm to fight identity fraud

Unisys Australia has launched a partnership agreement with UK’s fraud and money laundering prevention company, GB Group to help Australian financial, legal and online gambling sectors deal with identification security for international transactions.

GB Group has agreed to make its ID3 service available to Australian businesses via Unisys Australia while tailoring the technology to be compatible with Australian financial regulations.

“GB is recognised as one of the leading players in electronic ID verification globally and ID3 is tailored to the requirements of the Australian market, in particular to the new AML-CT regulations,” said Rob Dewar, managing partner, financial services, Unisys A/NZ.

The AML-CT (The Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006) was introduced in December 2006 to meet international standards in the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism, according to AUSTRAC (Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre)

The ID3 service is claimed to match an individual’s details against a range of external databases. It then provides an authentication score that either confirms or rejects the identity of the individual.

GB Group chief executive Richard Law said ID3 has been tried and tested in the UK and Europe. "Organisations are using the service to abide by regulations that are almost identical to those that have just come into force in Australia."

“The proceeds of fraud and money laundering are often used to fund serious organised crime such as drug trafficking and terrorism. For this reason, it may not be long before more industry sectors in Australia are governed by strict anti-fraud and money laundering legislation,” said Law.

ID3 is currently used by over 170 organisations including four of UK’s top five banks, retail companies and over 80 percent of the world’s online gambling companies to authenticate the identity of customers as well as new employees, according to a GB Group statement.