Certegy
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| Certegy, Inc. | |
|---|---|
| Type | Public, 2001 - 2006 Subsidiary, 2006 - present |
| Founded | 2001 |
| Headquarters | St. Petersburg, Florida |
| Industry | Financial Sector |
| Products | credit cards; check verification |
| Website | http://www.certegy.com |
Certegy was a public corporation created in 2001 when Equifax spun-off their payment services division. The corporation had two divisions of its own - check verification and credit cards. In September 2005, a merger with Fidelity Information Services, a subsidiary of Fidelity National Financial was announced. The merger was completed in 2006. Although designed to be the surviving entity of the merger, Certegy's corporate name was changed as part of the merger agreement to Fidelity National Information Services, and the ticker symbol on the NYSE changed from CEY to FIS.[1]
In 2004, Certegy acquired Game Financial, a cash access provider operating in several casinos in the United States, including rights to their trade name, GameCash. In 2007, it was announced that Certegy Gaming (formed after the acquisition of Game Financial) would be sold to Global Cash Access for $25 million.
Since the merger with Fidelity Information Services, the division of Certegy responsible for merchant check guarantee has remained operating under the name Certegy. Certegy is considered a world leader in identity theft prevention, loss mitigation and risk managment tools.
[edit] Consumer Information Compromised
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On July 3rd,2007 Certegy announced via press release that their security had been compromised by one of its own employees. Nearly 3 million names had been stolen and sold to marketing companies who then contacted various consumers with "offers to sell stuff".[1]
From a phone call to their call center (800-437-5120) on Jul 28, 2007, a Certegy representative stated that the information that was sold was limited to: Name, Address, Phone number, and Last 4 digits of the account in question. If the account was a checking account and only if the account holder's birthdate was printed on the checks, then that birthdate was also included in the sold information. Copies of Letters sent to customers whose information was compromised stated FULL Social security numbers, Birth dates, checking account numbers were shared along with driver license account information.
Certegy has filed a civil complaint in St. Petersburg, Fla., against the former employee (William Sullivan, Tampa, FL.) and the marketing companies believed to have received the misappropriated data, seeking retrieval of all consumer information as well as an injunction against any use.
According to the suit, Sullivan, either on his own or through S&S Computer Services, sold the consumer information to JAM Marketing, a Seminole-based, data broker. JAM admitted to Certegy that it paid Sullivan and/or S&S "substantial consideration" in exchange for the information, the suit says.
JAM in turn provided some of the information to three other marketing firms - Strategia Marketing in Largo, Data Secure IP LLC in Tampa and Whitehat.com Inc. in Tempe, Ariz., the suit says. Whitehat gave some of the information to two other companies, MCList Escrow Inc. in Seminole and Custom Response Teleservices in Elkhorn, Neb., and MCList provided some of the information to Quality Resources Inc. in Clearwater.
In late July 2007, Certegy announced that the number of records compromised was greater than originally stated. 8.5 million consumer records from the check authorizing company, more than 3 times the original estimate was stated.
Certegy's check verification service has been criticized as inadequate due to complaints that Certegy often denies check writing privileges to consumers who have ample funds in their accounts and no history of writing bad checks. Denied customers are often directed to call the company's toll free number, to sometimes find that Certegy can provide no reason for the denial and is unable to remove the flags that caused the check to be rejected. Many Indian Gaming Casinos have stopped using Certegy because of their lax service and quality.
May 3rd, 2008 Notices from the Admistrator for the US District Court PO Box 3689 Portland, OR 97208 were sent out on a class action law suit to Certegy victims stating a reimbursement for identity theft up to $20,000 and would pay for "certain out of pocket expenses". The website www.dataSettlement.com on line forms mention reimbersment for printing of check for new accounts ($40) and 2 years of credit monitoring services ($180) phone calls can also be placed at 1-877-580-9770 about the class action law suit.
