Experian Data Breach Resolution and BillGuard®, the leading personal finance security company, have launched a strategic collaboration to better protect consumers during an unprecedented era of identity theft.
Responding to the recent wave of payment card breaches, the companies unveiled an advanced identity protection suite, combining BillGuard’s award-winning card fraud monitoring mobile application with Experian’s award-winning identity protection product, ProtectMyID®.
A sharp increase in data breaches over the last several years has compromised the payment cards of millions of American cardholders. Fraudulent use of compromised credit cards and debit cards now accounts for more than 85 percent of all identity theft, which causes nearly $25 billion in financial damage in the U.S. each year . Unfortunately, financial institutions detect less than half of ECF, leaving cardholders to catch the rest – or personally absorb the financial loss.
BillGuard’s popular mobile application utilizes crowdsourcing techniques and big data analytics to alert cardholders to suspicious transactions that have posted to their credit cards, debit cards and bank accounts. The app also sends data breach alerts if a cardholder has transacted at a retailer during a breach period and provides card location alerts when a card is used away from the owner’s smart phone, indicating the card is probably not being used by its owner.
The new joint offering will allow consumers to access the ProtectMyID identity theft protection suite within the BillGuard app, along with the following BillGuard features:
- Card Fraud Monitoring and Alerts – Unlimited credit card, debit card, ATM and bank accounts monitored 24/7 for suspicious activity.
- Card Location Alerts – Alerts cardholders when their credit or debit card is used at a store or ATM away from them, using geolocation data from their mobile phone.
- Data Breach Monitoring and Alerts – Alerts cardholders when they have shopped at a merchant during a breach period, helping them immediately monitor their cards for fraud.
- Spend Tracking and Analytics – Helps consumers stay on top of exactly where their money is going with visual analytics and quick, email-like transaction review.
- Card Concierge – Cardholders can resolve billing inquiries and disputes with merchants directly from within the BillGuard app.
For more information about BillGuard, visit BillGuard.com. If you are a ProtectMyID member, please download the BillGuard app today for free from the Apple or Google Play stores.