Leading data solutions provider, Tracesmart has been shortlisted in the Welsh Company of the Year category of the South Wales Chamber of Commerce Business Awards. The winner will be announced at a forthcoming Gala Dinner at Cardiff's City Hall.

Following a sustained period of growth and expansion, Tracesmart is not only encountering increasing demand for its products and services but is receiving recognition for its continuing development. Tracesmart's short-listing for a similar category in the recent Institute of Welsh Affairs' awards, and the company's Fast Growth 50 listing for the second consecutive year, is testament to a productive and rewarding period for the data business.

Tracesmart delivers both online and offline solutions, providing cost effective access to industry leading consumer data. Its B2B products are utilised by a large and diverse range of businesses from SME to FTSE 100 companies across a wide range of industries. The company provide organisations with the means to trace people, find lost account holders, conduct employee background checks and confirm customer identity.

Mike Trezise, Tracesmart's founder and Managing Director commented, "We begin 2012 as we ended 2011, at the forefront of Welsh business. It's always pleasing to be shortlisted for any award, we now see ourselves repeatedly being recognised. The business will continue in the same vein, we still have much to do, we aim to develop and launch further products and services in the coming months for the UK market and despite the economic climate, we believe 2012 will be another strong year for our business."

Leading consumer data specialists, Tracesmart, are pleased to integrate and make available the first tranche of the 2012 Electoral Roll. The information offers the largest and most accurate summary of the UK population, and ensures Tracesmart's customers benefit from the most current and authoritative residency data available in the country.

The information exists in two formats, the 'full' Electoral Roll which has qualified and conditional usage and the 'edited' Electoral Roll; these are key datasets utilised by a growing range of Tracesmart's products and services.

Established by leading tracing experts, the company provides online B2B solutions to help businesses trace people, search information, find lost account holders, conduct employee background checks and confirm an individual's identity. The information provided within the Electoral Roll is fundamental to many of these products.

Paul Weathersby, Tracesmart's Technical Director, commented on the latest data to be uploaded, "Every year we strive to be the first to utilise the newly released Electoral Roll data. Our customers need and deserve to be able to search the most favourable information available at the earliest possible moment, it has always been our aim to deliver a customer-centric solution and we constantly work to extend both the quantitative and qualitative capacity of our data."

Over recent years the trend has seen the edited Electoral Roll diminish as opt-out rates increased. However, last year the opt-out decreased for the first time, falling 1% to 45% when compared with the preceding year. Absent data is generally bridged in the industry by the integration of other publicly available data.

Tracesmart holds data approaching a billion records including historic Electoral Roll information. Data is endlessly updated to ensure their systems will scan the most relevant and productive information available. Tracesmart will shortly complete uploading the new 2012 Electoral Roll and to ensure it remains up-to-date, they will also utilise the Rolling Register, a monthly update of approximately 250,000 records which amends Electoral Roll data to reflect changes in people's personal circumstances.

Tracesmart, one of the UK's leading data specialists, is pleased to announce that JLT Benefit Solutions Ltd (JLT) has signed a three year renewal to utilise its pension services. JLT, a globally recognised organisation, was one of the first Third Party Administrators (TPA) to trial Tracesmart's services. The renewal of this contract reinforces Tracesmart's position as the preferred supplier of data solutions within the pensions industry.

Commenting on their decision to continue utilising Tracesmart's services, Lorraine Harper, Head of Governance Services at JLT stated, "Tracesmart continues to develop products and services which meet the diverse needs of its clients. There is an increasing focus on the quality and completeness of data within our industry and Tracesmart has been proactive in recognising this. The levels of innovation are market leading and we are delighted to be renewing our contract with Tracesmart for a further three years."

Tracesmart has enjoyed rapid growth over recent years and extended its service portfolio to supply a growing number of pension schemes and third party administrators with the specialist pension tracing, mortality screening and identity verification services. The company is one of a limited number of companies to receive a weekly feed of current Death Registration Information from the Identity and Passport Service (IPS). As an IPS licence holder, Tracesmart has been able to integrate the recently released 'gap data' – the list of deaths registered in the UK from January 2007 to September 2008 – into its database, helping it to enhance the coverage of mortalities in England and Wales.

Discussing Tracesmart's growing success within the pensions industry, Catherine Dunn, Tracesmart's Life and Pension Services' Client Relationship Manager commented, "We believe in fostering strong relationships with our clients to help us understand the changing demands of the sector and how we can overcome these. Our Existence services were born from the need to mitigate fraudulent activity at the earliest possible time. We're extremely pleased that these along with our pension tracing services, have proved invaluable to companies such as JLT."

As the clock ticks steadily towards The Pensions Regulator guidance deadline, data continues to be a hot topic. Tracesmart, one of the UK's leading data solution providers were prominent at both the Professional Pension Show and the NAPF Annual Conference to draw attention to the significance of maintaining quality data. Parading their new superhero marketing campaign along with their refreshed branding, Tracesmart raised considerable interest for data integrity amongst the event's delegates made up from trustees, administrators and other pension professionals.

Tracesmart's service delivery is of high significance to the industry due to the influence and impending deadline of tPR's record-keeping guidance; the service allows schemes to continually stay up-to-date with changes in member's circumstances. Employing constantly updated information, pension schemes stakeholders are able to safeguard the integrity of their data, mitigate fraudulent activity and benefit from improved communication with their members.

Mike Trezise, Tracesmart's Managing Director, commented, "We've had a very successful exhibition season, our superhero campaign raised a great deal of interest as the importance of protecting and maintaining data was highlighted to existing and prospective clients alike. Despite the approaching deadline, it's surprising the number of schemes that still need to tackle their data issues. The conference and exhibition season is crucial to raise awareness and understanding within the industry in addition to our direct interest of highlighting the importance of appropriate, clean and current data. We aim to be back again next year."

During the conference season, Tracesmart invited attendees to participate in a survey which involved completing a questionnaire for a chance to win the new iPad2. In response to the survey, Catherine Dunn, Client Relationship Manager remarked, "We received a sizeable and interesting reaction to our market research, and would like to thank everyone for their comments. The results have given us worthwhile insight into scheme's requirements which enables us to develop and target our services accordingly."

Feedback to surveys undertaken by Tracesmart during recent pension industry exhibitions included the following: when asked about data accuracy, 31% of delegates responded that their data was 'very accurate', 29% said 'accurate' and 34% thought their data was about 'average', whereas 6% replied they had 'poor data' or 'did not know'. Asked how prepared the delegates were for the tPR's record-keeping guidance deadline, 30% responded they were 'absolutely prepared', 63% were 'nearly there', while 7% were 'unprepared'.

Tracesmart has announced its support of The Salvation Army, providing its tracing services to the globally recognised charity to help trace people. The partnership will assist The Salvation Army's Family Tracing Service by improving their tracing capacity and effectiveness and increase the number of families they reunite.

Recognised for their work with vulnerable people – largely those who are homeless and older people – the Salvation Army has more than 800 social services centres and churches in the UK and Ireland. The charity also runs more than 120 drop-in centres, which offer support and help for people in need and serves around 3 million meals every day at community and residential centres. In contrast to this largely publicised charitable work, the Salvation Army's Family Tracing Service is relatively unknown, yet provides an important provision that currently helps to reunite over 10 families in the UK every day.

Following the recent introduction of the facility, Major Graham Kinsley, The Salvation Army's Director of Family Tracing Service gave a statement about Tracesmart's operational support: "Our searches for long lost family members are now much faster, which is very important given that we handle around 2,500 new enquiries each year. More families will be reunited and more lives made whole again, thanks to the service from Tracesmart."

Established in 1999 by leading tracing specialists, Tracesmart has since become one of the UK's leading data solution providers. Its constantly updated consumer data, and key services which include trace, data cleansing, mortality screening and identity verification are utilised by a wealth of organisations from SMEs to FTSE 100 listed companies to help find, identify and profile customers to improve communication.

Commenting on the company's recent commitment to The Salvation Army, Owen Roberts, Tracesmart's Head of Public Relations stated: "The Salvation Army is an inspiring global organisation that has helped so many people at difficult times in their lives. When we became aware that the charity provides a family tracing service, it was an obvious partnership with clear synergies. We understand the impact that reconnecting with a loved one can have on someone's life, so we are particularly happy to offer our support."

Leading data specialists, Tracesmart are listed in the 2011 Fast Growth 50 Awards as the 25th fastest growing company in Wales. Joining a diverse range of businesses, Tracesmart took part in the award ceremony held in Cardiff on 16th September. Now in its 12th year, the awards which champions companies in Wales and the positive effect they have on the economy, has grown in stature and is now considered a highlight in the business calendar. Tracesmart were nominated for the fastest growing company within the Creative and Knowledge Industry category and competed for the overall title of Wales's Fastest Growing Company. This is the second successive year for Tracesmart to be listed.

Reflecting on the recognition, Mike Trezise, Tracesmart's Managing Director and founder commented: "It's another satisfying milestone in our history, and has drawn emphasis to what has proved to be a momentous year for Tracesmart. Since last year's awards we've celebrated 12 years of trading, experienced staff growth, moved into brand new headquarters and re-branded to reflect our innovative and progressive objectives. To be listed two years running is quite an achievement".

Tracesmart provides online data solutions in both the B2B and B2C sectors; their B2B products are utilised across a wide range of industries, including life and pension which has enjoyed considerable growth within the last 3 years. Tracesmart's B2B services enable companies to trace people, find lost account holders, conduct employee background checks and confirm identity. The company's access to industry leading data ensures that organisations are able to keep accurate consumer information, which helps to prevent fraud while improving administration and customer communication.

Also founded in 1999, the Fast Growth 50 Awards celebrates the progression of the Wales's most successful privately owned companies. Its founder, Professor Dylan Jones-Evans commented: "I am delighted that Tracesmart is on the Wales Fast Growth 50 list for the second year in succession. Its growth is remarkable and is testament to the individuals within the team who add valuable knowledge and drive the business forward, allowing it to maintain a competitive edge".

Tracesmart are constantly seeking talented people to join its progression. If you would like to work for one of Wales's fastest growing companies, please visit www.tracesmartcorporate.co.uk/recruitment

Celebrating twelve years since inception and twelve years’ continuous growth, leading data specialists, Tracesmart, are commemorating their anniversary by launching their new corporate brand identity. Developed in-house, the new brand incorporates a distinct logo, designed to demonstrate the company’s contemporary and progressive attributes, it will also provide further creative options and a point of focus as the business moves forward in its current and prospective markets. The new branding and website launched on the 1st August.

Tracesmart was established by leading tracing specialists in 1999, and has since become one of the UK’s leading providers of consumer data solutions. Their services and facilities are utilised by a large number of organisations within a diverse range of sectors. In the case of the Life and Pension industry, large volumes of data is cleansed and screened by Tracesmart to protect data integrity and to mitigate fraud. Further key services include tracing and identity verification for ‘know your customer’ and ‘anti money laundering’ processes.

Commenting on their anniversary and subsequent rebrand, Mike Trezise, Tracesmart’s founder and Managing Director stated: “We have chosen to celebrate our anniversary with a revision to our identity. Success within our industry relies upon a commitment to being up-to-date and forward thinking, and as such we need to reflect our progressive and dynamic characteristics. I firmly believe that our new branding achieves this; twelve years is a significant milestone for us, and the rebrand is a fitting acknowledgment to our recognised and anticipated achievements and goals.”

Heavy investment in technology and employees has led to cutting-edge data solutions which have strengthened Tracesmart’s market position. The company now employs over 80 staff and recently relocated to modern, environmentally-friendly headquarters in Cardiff Bay. This, along with their top twenty listing within the Wales Fast Growth 50 awards, is testament to the company’s development strategy.

Tracesmart, a leading provider of fraud prevention and anti-money laundering data services, are to receive and integrate into their system what is generally known in the industry as the ‘gap data’. Following a review by The Identity and Passport Service, the list of deaths registered in the UK from January 2007 to September 2008 has been made available to licence holders under the Disclosure of Death Registration Information (DDRI).

The DDRI scheme was originally launched in January 2008 to provide licensees with a weekly feed of electronic files of deaths registered in the UK. The data can only be accessed by approved organisations and for reasons prescribed by law; its purpose is prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of offences. Tracesmart were one of the first companies to receive the data and continues to be one of a limited number of companies to be given access to the weekly update and now the newly released records.

The information along with their existing mortality data will enhance and further help Tracesmart’s customers in their battle to fight fraud and in particular, prevent impersonation of the deceased (IOD) fraud - a rapidly increasing crime within the financial sector.

Founded in 1999, Tracesmart has become one of the UK’s leading data specialists and utilise Death Registration Information within their electronic Identity verification and mortality screening services within their pension products. Commenting on their recent acquisition, Michael Trezise, Tracesmart’s Managing Director stated: “IOD fraud can affect a wealth of businesses and organisations; we remain committed to offering the highest possible level of service and quality of data to protect our customers against this type of fraud. Unfortunately, fraud is on the increase and mortality data is vital to counter-act the level of deception perpetrated by criminals within the financial industries.”

Tracesmart, one of the UK's leading consumer data providers, have announced the launch of the first web service in a new suite; CCJ web service. Unique to Tracesmart, CCJ web service went live in tandem with the company's new supporting website - developer.tracesmart.co.uk - the combination of which aims to provide organisations with the ability to access and incorporate a variety of consumer data and Tracesmart services into their business systems.

County Court Judgements (CCJ's) are issued by County Courts in England & Wales when a debtor fails to pay money they owe, with the judgements requiring the debtor fulfil their obligations to the creditor. As this information is a solid indicator of an individual's financial standing, it is invaluable to many organisations and can be used in a variety of business applications such as credit vetting, employee background checks and debtor profiling.

CCJ web service provides the ability to access all live CCJ records for England & Wales and also the equivalent records for Scotland, Northern Ireland, Isle of Man and Jersey. Providing comprehensive UK coverage of court judgements, this web service is unique to Tracesmart.

Chris Rothwell, Tracesmart's Sales Director, details the drivers behind the development of a suite of web services;

"Many of our customers have highlighted the fact that they would like direct access to data through their own systems; at Tracesmart we pride ourselves on meeting customer needs and whilst lots of our clients enjoy the benefits of having data presented to them in a predetermined fashion, as is the case in our online software, others simply want raw data to interpret themselves.

As such, we've instigated a program that will see a whole host of web services developed which will provide access to both raw data and also provide a gateway to some of our online services. Substantial requests for swift and easy access to CCJ data resulted in the CCJ web service being developed first; this will be followed by an array of other web services."

To ensure that their suite of web services will be well supported, Tracesmart have launched a website - developer.tracesmart.co.uk - which details how a user can setup their systems to utilise the Tracesmart web services. The site highlights how to send a request to the CCJ web service, what response can be expected, data that will be returned and also provides code examples. Craig Strong, Head of Product Development, elaborates on the efforts made to make the service easy to use;

"When developing the CCJ web service we ensured that it would be extremely efficient, robust and secure, however we knew that if it wasn't simple to access and well supported, all of its plus points would count for nothing.

As such, in addition to the service itself, we also developed a website aimed at the web developers who will integrate the service into third party systems. developer.tracesmart.co.uk provides web developers with clear guidance on how to integrate with the CCJ web service and highlights the various channels through which they can get help and support.

We understand that any product or service is much more than just an isolated element; it incorporates a complete experience, and it's therefore essential that we support our suite of web services effectively."

In addition to the supporting website, Tracesmart have also set up a dedicated Web Services team, who are on hand to assist and support users of the service and ensure they get the most out of the system.

Tracesmart, the UK's leading data specialists took part in the Miles for Missing People 10K charity run, organised by the charity Missing People on Saturday 2nd April. With the largest team entry, Tracesmart further proved their commitment to the cause as the charity's official search partner.

Tracesmart provide online consumer data solutions that enable businesses from a wide range of sectors to employ its services for people tracing, ID verification and data cleansing. Missing People themselves benefit from the tracing facility as part of their wide ranging needs to search for people and information.

Speaking of their support of Missing People, Owen Roberts, Head of Public Relations at Tracesmart commented: "We're extremely pleased that we've been able to raise so much money, the sum demonstrates the determination of our staff and fundraising team who have really got behind the charity. As a company we're proud that our employees have embraced the important work that this charity undertakes - it's a testament to our company values and ethos."

Martin Houghton-Brown, the Chief Executive of Missing People, said "We're so grateful to Team Tracesmart for their fantastic support of Miles for Missing People. The company's extraordinary fundraising efforts will help us to improve and expand our services, so that we can be a lifeline when someone disappears."

Missing People provide a vital support when someone goes missing. At any one time, Missing People is searching for over 5,000 missing people in the UK, 3,000 of which are children. Their caring and highly trained staff and volunteers offer specialised support to the families that are left behind; they work hard to try and end the heartache and confusion. The charity is currently campaigning for the Government to give families of missing people the same basic rights as victims of crime.

Consumer intelligence specialist, Tracesmart has announced the recent appointment of a Client Relationship Manager. After considerable growth within the life and pensions sector, Tracesmart promoted Catherine Dunn to this recently created position. Dunn who has been with Tracesmart for two years, has brought a wealth of experience within the financial services industry to the company, which has given her a good grounding to the compliant nature of the life and pensions sector.

Tracesmart’s online solutions – Cleanse, Trace, Existence and ID – have been utilised by pension schemes to ensure their member records are highly accurate and compliant with The Pensions Regulator’s record-keeping guidelines. With the 2012 Pensions Reform approaching, schemes’ data is facing increasing scrutiny to ensure high accuracy of common data. This impending reform has helped to bolster Tracesmart’s roster of life and pensions clients, and the new role is crucial to the company’s development within the industry.

Mike Trezise, Tracesmart’s Managing Director, commented on Catherine Dunn’s recent promotion:

“I am delighted that Catherine has decided to take on this new role. Her analytical skills, commitment to the company and involvement in developing new products has proved invaluable to Tracesmart. I wish her every success in this new position, and believe that she will help strengthen our place within the pensions sector.”

Leading consumer data specialists Tracesmart, are pleased to provide their clients with access to an increased number of consumer records, thanks to the recent inclusion of 2011 Electoral Roll data into their database. As the most accurate snapshot of the UK population, the full Electoral Roll and the edited Electoral Roll are key datasets utilised by a range of Tracesmart's products, helping to ensure their clients have access to the most up-to-date information available.

Founded in 1999 by a leading tracing specialist, Mike Trezise, Tracesmart provide online B2B solutions which help organisations to trace people and information, find lost account holders, conduct employee background checks and confirm an individual's identity. The data provided by the Electoral Roll is integral to many of these products.

Paul Weathersby, Technical Director at Tracesmart, commented on the importance of providing clients with the latest records: "We strive to deliver customer-centric solutions, and continually work to extend the wealth of information that is available. Our clients rely on accurate and extensive information, so it's imperative that we're able to offer the most recent and accurate consumer data at the earliest possible time.

Making new Electoral Roll data available as soon as possible is part of this commitment. Encouragingly, in what is a first since the edited Electoral Roll was introduced, the opt-out rate dropped from 46% in 2010, to 45% in 2011, which should see more records being available. However, we are conscious that there is still a large portion of the populous unaccounted for in the edited Roll, and as such will continue to source alternative data to bridge the gap."

Including the Electoral Roll, Tracesmart holds data approaching a billion records in their aggregated datasets. The data they hold is regularly updated to ensure that their products supply the most productive and pertinent information available. Tracesmart will soon complete uploading the new 2011 Electoral Roll and to ensure it remains up-to-date, they will be taking advantage of the Rolling Register, a monthly update which amends electoral data to reflect changes in people's personal circumstances.

Highlighting the importance of these updates Weathersby added: "We will be ensuring our clients have access to the most recent electoral data, by updating our database on a monthly basis with the information we receive via the Rolling Register. These updates can amount to amendments of almost 250,000 a month, and will provide our customers with the consumer intelligence they need for their business."

Cardiff-based consumer data specialist Tracesmart, has relocated to Global Reach following recent significant growth. The company has transferred its 80 employees from three office locations to a single headquarters; a brand new, high-tech and environmentally friendly office complex in Cardiff Bay, providing a centralised workforce and further scope for expansion.

Located within Cardiff's Celtic Gateway Business Park, the Global Reach office space has been completed to Grade A specification, and includes a solar shading system, which reduces the building's running costs and carbon emissions. Rhiannon Wilcox, Tracesmart's Financial Director, elaborates on the reasons for choosing Global Reach:

"We're extremely pleased with the new office, this dynamic building reflects Tracesmart's innovative nature, and will be the perfect environment for us to strengthen our product offering. We're looking forward to being able to reinforce our working relationships, whilst gaining the opportunity to develop further."

Tracesmart offers an invaluable source of consumer information to a vast and varied range of companies, from SMEs to FTSE 100 corporations. Delivering a powerful data cleansing and mortality screening service, an online provision to perform identity checks and an authoritative facility to trace people, Tracesmart's client portfolio boasts a wide variety of industries including the pension, collection, media and financial sectors.

Their growth strategy has clearly been a huge success; investing heavily in new technology whilst expanding their pool of expertise has enabled the company to strengthen its position in the market place and add to their impressive portfolio of clients. Tracesmart has also recently gained entry to the Fast Growth 50 list, securing a position within Wales's top 20 fastest growing companies.

Commenting on their relocation, Tracesmart's Managing Director, Mike Trezise stated: "Our staff numbers have increased considerably, which is a testament to the success of our business strategy. However, in order for the company to build upon this and progress our product offering, we needed to bring the business expertise together. We look forward to the next stage in our development."

Tracesmart, a leader in the field of consumer intelligence, reinforced its stringent data security management with the successful accreditation of the globally recognised ISO 27001:2005 Information Security certification. The standard provides a model for establishing, operating, reviewing and improving an Information Security Management System (ISMS) - providing Tracesmart with a trusted framework which ensures their data - and that of their clients - is kept secure and confidential.

This accreditation strengthens Tracesmart's warranty and current product offerings which include identity verification, existence checks, people tracing and consumer data cleansing. These services are utilised by a large and diverse range of businesses, from SME to FTSE 100 companies, and are prominent within the financial services, pensions and collections industries.

Commenting on the company's successful certification, Tracesmart's Technical Director, Paul Weathersby, stated:

"Data is our business; we take security and confidentiality very seriously. Our clients are also mindful of the importance of quality data management, which is why ISO 27001:2005 is very important to us. We are proud of all the hard work and effort our employees demonstrated to ensure we successfully passed our audit inspection.  We can now offer our existing and potential clients a further assurance in our management systems, while demonstrating that we're committed to protecting data."

Having been officially accredited, Tracesmart is one of less than 500 companies in the UK to have achieved the high standards required for ISO 27001:2005 certification. As well as demonstrating a commitment to the highest level of data security, it will provide Tracesmart's clients with confidence that the company will keep data security at the forefront of the business - the ISO 27001:2005 requires that regular audits take place to ensure that information management security duties are fulfilled and continuously improved.

Tracesmart recently kick-started their initial three-year agreement to support the charity Missing People with a staff fundraiser. Tracesmart has pledged to give practical support and financial investment to help Missing People provide a lifeline to the 250,000 people who run away and go missing each year.

Commenting on the charity’s new partnership with Tracesmart, Missing People’s Chief Executive Martin Houghton-Brown said: ”Thanks to Tracesmart's generosity, Missing People will continue to act as a lifeline to the 250,000 people that go missing every year and support the heartbroken families left behind. There is such a great synergy between our organisations and we are looking forward to working together.”

Elaborating, Owen Roberts, Tracesmart’s Head of Public Relations said: “When we learnt that currently one in four calls made to Missing People’s helplines could not be answered, we were particularly eager to offer our support to enhance the charity’s resources. We’ve already discussed future events that we can help promote and look forward to working with Missing People to support the fantastic and vital work that it provides.”

The charity is currently campaigning for the rights of families of missing people. As well as having to cope with the emotional upset of losing someone, these families also have to deal with a huge financial strain. Due to current laws, closing someone’s financial accounts can cost a family up to £25,000; Missing People are campaigning for a change in current legislation. Tracesmart recognises the stress and frustration that these families experience, and is providing Missing People with financial support to ensure this change in legislation becomes a reality.

Tracesmart’s Sales Director, Chris Rothwell, has joined a host of industry leading professionals on the judging panel at this year’s Debt Collection Awards. Held at The Nottingham Belfry Hotel, on 18^th November, the award scheme is the only event to specifically celebrate the achievements of those working in the debt collection industry. In its fourth year, the ceremony marks the efforts and talents of teams and individuals within this highly challenging sector.

With a wealth of financial services experience behind him, Rothwell brought his inside knowledge to Tracesmart ten years ago and helps develop their range of services aimed at the collections industry and public services sector. Originally heading up Tracesmart’s in-house tracing team, his sharp business acumen and commitment was recognised by the company’s directors and he was appointed to the board; charged with leading the sales team and strengthening Tracesmart’s position in the marketplace.

Speaking of his place on this year’s panel of judges, Rothwell commented:

“It is an honour to judge the merits of teams and businesses within the debt collection industry. Having joined Tracesmart to head up the tracing division, the collections industry is one that I am extremely au fait with; I understand the expertise that is required to enjoy success within this tough business sector.”

Tracesmart provide online solutions to the collections industry, helping businesses to cleanse debtor data, and trace individuals. Their new intelligent tracing tool, TraceIQ, is also sponsoring the Trace Team of the Year award. Giving businesses the means to locate the information they are looking for in a swift manner, the product fits well with an award which promotes excellence in tracing.

Elaborating on his company’s involvement with the award ceremony, Rothwell added:

“I am extremely proud of Tracesmart’s involvement with this year’s awards; it’s a great honour. I feel that being asked to participate in the essential judging process, alongside some of the biggest names in the industry, highlights how far Tracesmart has come.” 

Tracesmart, one of the UK’s leading consumer data specialists, attended the highly regarded Welsh Fast Growth 50 annual award ceremony at the Holland House Hotel, Cardiff, on 29th October. Nominated for the fastest growing company within the Creative and Knowledge Industry category, and competing for the title of Wales’s Fastest Growing Company, it was a satisfying moment for Mike Trezise, Tracesmart’s Managing Director and founder:

“To see Tracesmart placed within the top twenty fastest growing organisations in Wales is a real highlight in the company’s history. Thanks to our investment in innovative technology and our pool of talented people, we have gone from strength to strength. Our maxim has always been ‘to be the best’, and we continually strive to improve our products and services so that we can offer real benefits, and strengthen our position in the marketplace.”

Founded in 1999, Tracesmart provide online solutions, which offer access to industry leading consumer data. Their B2B products are utilised by a large and diverse range of industries from SME to FTSE 100 companies across a wide range of business sectors. They provide organisations with the means to trace people, find lost account holders, conduct employee background checks and confirm peoples’ identity.

Also founded in the same year that Tracesmart was established, the Fast Growth 50 Awards celebrated its twelfth anniversary with Wales’s most successful privately owned companies. It aims to help Welsh businesses gain recognition and further support to help them develop, and bring further employment and opportunities into Wales.

Its founder, Professor Dylan Jones-Evans, said: “I am delighted that Tracesmart has qualified as one of Wales’s fastest growing firms in 2010. Through its continuous commitment to innovation and improving services, Tracesmart is exactly the type of business that the Welsh economy needs as we emerge from recession.”

Speaking of Tracesmart’s attendance at the Fast Growth 50 awards, Owen Roberts, Head of Public Relations added: “The Fast Growth 50 Awards is the high point in the Welsh business calendar; it remains a constant reminder of the entrepreneurial potential that exists in Wales. We’re extremely pleased that our recent rapid growth strategy has been acknowledged. This will give a real boost to all our employees, increase our profile and brand awareness and possibly help us enter new markets.”

Tracesmart are continually looking for talented people. If you would like to work for one of Wales’s top twenty fastest growing companies, visit their recruitment web page.

Tracesmart Corporate, a leading provider of data cleansing services, is extremely pleased to announce that Hewitt Associates has been added to its roster of international clients. Providing tracing, existence and anti-money laundering services, Tracesmart Corporate will enable Hewitt to trace people such as gone aways or executors of the deceased, to identify mortalities and to conduct identity checks as part of compliance and security measures. These services will ensure that Hewitt holds accurate member information; easing member record management and protecting their clients' schemes from fraud. 

With 70 years’ experience and a global reach into more than 30 countries, Hewitt is a leading human resources outsourcing provider, with more than 23,000 associates who work with some of the world’s most successful companies.

Mike Trezise, Tracesmart’s Managing Director commented, “We are delighted to be awarded with Hewitt’s three year preferred supplier contract.  Our stringent security measures, industry knowledge and innovative technology have again successfully delivered a major contract with a global organisation. We look forward to working with Hewitt, and will endeavour to deliver the best high quality, cost-effective service possible.”

Tracesmart is one of a small handful of organisations to receive weekly updates of registered UK deaths as part of the General Register Office’s (GRO) Disclosure of Death Registration Information (DDRI) scheme. This information enhances the company’s mortality screening facility - a key function of their Existence Alert service.  In addition to this service, Hewitt will also be utilising Tracesmart’s anti-money laundering system to confirm scheme members’ identities, screen individuals against politically exposed persons and sanction databases, and to demonstrate quality data governance.

Derek Morgan, European Benefits Outsourcing Lead at Hewitt Associates, said, "We are very pleased to be working with Tracesmart.  They provide us with services which go to the heart of successful administration, enabling Hewitt to set the highest standards in the accuracy and effectiveness of the services we provide to our clients."

Tracesmart – leading providers of debtor tracing systems and data cleansing services – have announced that this summer they will be launching the next evolution in tracing software; TraceIQ. The new system has been designed to provide the collections industry with much more than a simple tracing tool and will make its debut at an official launch in London.

Billed as 'The intelligent way to trace', Tracesmart have designed the system to provide not only the tracing functionality you would expect in a market leading product, but also added intelligence that will enhance the way in which businesses' trace and collections departments operate.

TraceIQ's brain is a powerful logic engine that will provide users with accurate trace results and additional pertinent information, allowing for swift decisions to be made and the productivity of trace and collections teams to increase dramatically. Whilst the logic engine is a highly sophisticated system, the key to users gaining value from the product is the simplicity of the search and reporting interfaces, as Mike Trezise, Managing Director at Tracesmart, highlighted,

"There is a simple ethos behind our new TraceIQ product – 'We'll do the hard work, so you don't have to.' So whilst the system logic is incredibly advanced and sophisticated, ensuring that the end-user is provided with the correct information, equally important is the method in which TraceIQ allows users to search for an individual and how resulting information is communicated back to them and presented.

The brain makes the decisions for the user, and the interface ensures the returned information is easily applied to the task in hand." Whilst precise details of TraceIQ's features and functionality remain a closely guarded secret, Tracesmart have revealed that the system has been designed to be highly user-oriented, with an array of customisable features that will allow businesses to mould the system to their needs. Chris Rothwell, Sales Director, elaborated,

"We have a long history of working closely with our clients in the debt collection industry and an abundant knowledge of tracing practice. TraceIQ is a child of that experience and is designed for the industry, with the end user in mind. It is simple enough for anyone to use, but provides the sophistication an experienced tracer or collections analyst requires. I know that it will make many heads turn on its launch in the summer."

Those who wish to find out more about the new system and its imminent launch can register their interest at www.traceiq.co.uk

The requirement for good quality, regularly updated data is crucial for the business community and none more so than when companies and organisations need to protect themselves from fraud. Impersonation of the deceased (IOD) fraud is a growing concern and industries continuously look for the best options to safeguard themselves and their consumers against the perpetrators.

Tracesmart Corporate, a leading consumer data specialist, is one of the few companies able to deliver an authoritative solution to protect organisations from IOD fraud and deception, offering a powerful mortality screening service which, through screening their customer databases, allows companies to identify deceased individuals. This process can save a diverse array of businesses – from pension providers to credit card companies – millions of pounds per year.

To further strengthen the scope of its data and services, Tracesmart has uploaded UK Death Index records from 1976 – 1979 into their mortality screening database. This data release is part of a larger project which will see Tracesmart digitise Death Index records held on microfiche spanning 1960 – 1983, and is the latest tranche of data to be uploaded subsequent to the digitisation and integration of 1980 – 1983 death data in June of last year.

In addition to assisting anti-fraud measures, the historical mortality data will also enhance Tracesmart’s data cleansing, anti-money laundering and tracing solutions. Historical mortality information is also employed within Tracesmart’s asset reunification services and dormant account tracing; it helps tracers to confirm an individual is deceased and can also provide a lead to help locate the next of kin or executors of the deceased’s estate.

Tracesmart’s Managing Director, Mike Trezise, commented, "As part of our commitment to providing the best possible service, we need to utilise as much relevant data as possible; the greater the scope of information, the greater the results. The digitisation of this crucial information can only improve our mortality screening, identity verification and tracing portfolio; providing a further improved service to our client base. We have worked hard to build up an industry-leading database, which is unique to Tracesmart and outperforms the competition.”

Rhiannon Wilcox FCCA has joined the board of directors at Tracesmart, one of the UK's leading consumer data specialists. Previously the company accountant, Wilcox will strengthen the board at a time when the organisation is experiencing rapid growth and transition due to sustained high demand for its data cleansing, anti-money laundering and debtor tracing services.

A graduate of Loughborough University, Wilcox trained with RSM Bentley Jennison followed by spells with Citigroup in Sydney and KTS Owens Thomas in Cardiff. Having established her own successful business operating within a diverse range of industries and commerce in South Wales, Tracesmart became one of her principal clients. As a recognised and respected figure within the company, the transition to board member has been seamless.

Wilcox remarked, "I am delighted to have joined the board at Tracesmart as we embark on a new financial year and I look forward to the opportunities and challenges that will arise as the company diversifies and grows. These are exciting times for the business, management and staff."

The scope of online data driven services provided by the company's B2B arm, Tracesmart Corporate, offers an invaluable source of consumer information to a vast and varied range of companies, from SMEs to FTSE 100 corporations. Delivering a powerful data cleansing and mortality screening service, an online provision to perform identity checks and an authoritative facility to trace people, Tracesmart's client portfolio boasts a wide variety of industries including the pension, collection, media and financial sectors.

Mike Trezise, Tracesmart's Managing Director, commented on his new board member,
"I would like to offer Rhiannon my personal congratulations on her new role and wish her all the very best. Her unfailing commitment and hard work has served the company extremely well over recent years. We are currently going through an important phase in our expansion and I'm confident she will make a major contribution during this stage and to the future success of the company. The management team is delighted that Rhiannon has agreed to join the board of directors."

Tracesmart Corporate has been appointed by Apex Credit Management to provide their proprietary data cleansing and online tracing services. The intuitive web based tracing system offers a single source solution, which permits the rapid and confident tracing of gone aways and absconded debtors. The facility will provide Apex with the means to conduct their tracing activities, both efficiently and ethically.

Apex Credit Management is a rapidly growing credit management provider. Headquartered in Stratford-Upon-Avon, the business is focused exclusively upon providing debt management services to the financial services sector; notably early arrears outsourcing, debt collection, debt purchase and tracing services. The company was established in 2000 as a specialist UK based consumer debt collection agency.

Apex recently created a new division, Apex Discovery Solutions, which provides dedicated tracing solutions to the financial services sector. Based in West Malling, Kent, the new enterprise boasts a large team of tracers to fulfil the recent uptake in demand from this sector. Head of Trace is Jamie McGrath, who with over twenty years of experience in the debt recovery and debt purchase sectors has extensive knowledge of tracing and compliance. Commenting on the company’s new partnership with Tracesmart, McGrath remarked, "Forging an alliance with Tracesmart enables us to broaden our data cleansing and tracing services across our client base, which will assist us in our goal of becoming a data led, ethical and compliant trace provider."

Tracesmart is one of the UK's leading data specialists, providing debtor tracing and consumer data services to a vast number of the country's credit management companies. In addition to people tracing, the company also offer identity checks and anti-money laundering services to a varying and growing legion of businesses and industries.

Commenting on the new partnership, Chris Rothwell, Tracesmart's Sales Director remarked, "We are delighted that Jamie and his recently established Apex division have chosen Tracesmart for their tracing and data solutions. Our debtor tracing facility is industry leading; we are confident we can provide increased productivity and efficiencies to any credit management organisation. We look forward to providing a first-rate and cost-effective service to our new partner, Apex."

The end of the calendar year is the period when local authorities make available their amassed edited Electoral Registers, and again Tracesmart is at the forefront following the announcement that they have already started incorporating the newly released 2010 data into their extensive catalogue of consumer information. As one of the UK’s leading data specialists, Tracesmart maintains its position and reputation by ensuring the data they hold is the most up-to-date possible, providing their clients with access to the latest information obtainable.

The UK electorate populate two registers which are collated by local authorities. The first is the full Electoral Register, which is utilised to facilitate local and national elections and is also employed by credit reference agencies. The second is the edited Electoral Register which holds the data of those individuals who did not ‘opt-out’ whilst completing their registration form. This list is held in the public domain and is commercially available. Tracesmart utilises this information, along with previously accumulated data, to provide identity checks, data cleansing and tracing solutions to the nation's businesses and industries.

Tracesmart Corporate has a diverse and constantly growing legion of companies employing their online facilities to trace people, and verify individuals as part of fraud prevention procedures. Edited Electoral Register records provide indispensable information for both identity checks and tracing exercises, as they contain names and addresses of UK citizens; key information needed to identify or locate an individual.

Commenting on the release of the newly uploaded Electoral Register data, Paul Weathersby, Tracesmart's Technical Director, remarked, "Once again, Tracesmart leads the way in delivering Electoral Register information. We have uploaded millions of new records to our system in a very short period and they are already fully searchable. We pride ourselves on this rapid integration which guarantees our customers early access to the best data available."

Loading of the 2010 edited Electoral Register data into Tracesmart's systems will continue throughout December and January; it is anticipated that the edited register will be fully integrated by the end of January 2010.

Following an assessment of their clients' member screening procedures, JLT Benefit Solutions Ltd (JLT) established the distinct advantages of Tracesmart's Existence checks facility. JLT were one of the first companies to employ Existence Alert in conjunction with Tracesmart's tracing service and are able to quantify fully, the benefits of comprehensive screening and batch pension tracing.

Commenting on the service, Andrew Marson, Head of Administration Consulting, JLT said, "All JLT clients using this service are benefiting from the improvements it brings. A number have saved significant sums of money as a result. Our relationship with Tracesmart is well established."

Tracesmart Corporate provide a broad spectrum of data intelligence services to the financial sector, including a multi-tiered consumer tracing solution utilised by a growing number of FTSE 100 companies. Tracesmart is also one of a small number of companies to receive a weekly feed of current UK Death Registration Information (DRI) from the General Register Office, crucial data which is employed to enhance the mortality screening functions of its anti-fraud services.

Established as the preferred choice within the pension industry for conducting existence checks, Tracesmart's Existence service can boast the vast share of the relevant market. The process utilises DRI, historical death indexes and commercially aggregated mortality data to flag any deaths in the UK, whilst also confirming residency and identifying gone aways. This is carried out on a continual basis, permitting appropriate action to be taken to mitigate risk at the earliest possible moment.

Remarking on Existence and his company's performance within the pension sector, Tracesmart's Managing Director, Mike Trezise remarked, "Tracesmart's combined existence checks and tracing services are industry leading. We are the principal player in this market now because we essentially understand the needs of the sector. As JLT has confirmed, our existence service delivers significant advantages. The process appreciably benefits all concerned, except that is, the fraudster."

Leading suppliers of identity checks and anti-money laundering services, Tracesmart, are to expand their workforce which will help manage the increasing demand for their services. The expansion will specifically involve the administration, sales and IT teams.

Tracesmart is currently active in a number of industries however the key B2B markets in which it operates include pensions and debt collection. Both these sectors use the company's data cleansing and consumer location services to trace people in order to re-establish contact. The pensions industry further utilises Tracesmart's Existence suite of services which can be used to identify scheme members who have relocated or are deceased, this helps pension schemes better manage their member payments, and protect themselves and their members against fraud.

Demand for Tracesmart Corporate services has already prompted the company to recruit seven new members of staff over recent months. They now plan to recruit a further eight to strengthen their numbers and continue their expansion within their core and new commercial arenas. Tracesmart's employee levels will soon total sixty, and the company headquarters still has capacity for further growth as their Business Support Manager, Rebecca Westlake, commented,

"We recently completed the refurbishment of our newly expanded Cardiff head office. In line with our expansion plans, the improvements have allowed us to develop and deploy individual teams efficiently and effectively to optimise our work environment."

With close ties to both his front line staff and the company's major clients, Tracesmart's Managing Director, Mike Trezise, is fully aware of how and when the company will continue to expand. Commenting on his company's development Trezise stated,

"We continue to reap the rewards of our ongoing marketing and sales campaigns within our core sectors. Demand has further led us to increase our staff to meet current and new client needs. We will continue to ensure our clients receive the best possible service and I'm confident that we'll experience sustained growth in 2010."

Tracesmart Corporate, has once again secured a major contract within the pensions industry as Aon Consulting UK have awarded the Cardiff based data specialists a preferred supplier agreement for their proprietary existence and tracing services. The 3-year agreement will allow the third party administrator to screen their client data against vital consumer information; permitting Aon Consulting to continuously maintain their client records in order to maximise the impact of scheme communication projects, ensure liabilities are correctly valued and to highlight any fraudulent activity.

Aon Consulting is part of Aon Consulting Worldwide; an award winning employee benefits consulting business that assists organisations in improving the performance of their benefits and rewards programs. Aon have provided pension administration services to the industry for nearly 60 years.

Ian Bloxham, Director of Client Relationships and Development for Aon Consulting said; "When you consider that 1 in 10 people move address each year it is understandable that many pension schemes will have lost contact with some of their deferred members, creating significant problems such as incorrect benefit payments and inaccurate liability valuations."

"Our partnership with Tracesmart allows us to help our clients to validate the address information that we hold on their behalf, locating members that they have lost contact with, and just as importantly, ensuring that contact is not lost again in the future."

Tracesmart Corporate provides a broad spectrum of data intelligence services to the financial sector, including one of the UK's leading facilities to trace people; a multi-tiered consumer tracing solution utilised by a growing number of FTSE100 companies. Tracesmart is also one of a small group of companies to receive a weekly feed of current UK Death Registration Information from the General Register Office (GRO), which the company uses to enhance the mortality screening functions of its anti-fraud services. The approximate 12,000 deaths recorded per week in the UK are added to Tracesmart's vast accumulated consumer data universe, which helps drive the company's proprietary service 'Existence Alert'. This service, in essence, delivers a data cleansing process which identifies deceased individuals and 'gone aways' (people that move home without notifying a change of address) at the earliest possible moment, allowing appropriate action to be taken to mitigate risk.

Tracesmart's Managing Director, Mike Trezise remarked, "Tracesmart's combined existence checks and tracing services goes from strength to strength. Understanding the pension industry's requirements is fundamental to our success; we are now a major player in this sector. Our services will deliver significant benefits to Aon and inevitably, their clients and members. We look forward to a long and productive partnership."

Tracesmart Corporate, data cleansing specialists and leading providers of consumer information services, have launched their new look corporate website. The redesign is not just skin-deep however, as it also includes an updated appearance to their intuitive online services, employed by a growing legion of operators to trace people and conduct identity checks. The redesign project was initiated following discussion with clients and prospects about site functionality.

Following in-depth market research with staff, customers and potential clients, the company embarked on a strategic overhaul of their business website to reflect the requirements and observations made by visitors during the research. The new look website and service portal was developed to portray Tracesmart Corporate as a modern and progressive organisation with a more welcoming and easier to understand user interface.

Owen Roberts, Tracesmart's Communications Manager commented, "Putting into practice the feedback we received during market research has paid dividends. We believe our new look corporate website presents a more customer focused and user friendly search facility. Our in-house web developers and design team have responded to the challenge and delivered a fresh, contemporary design that I'm sure our customers will greatly appreciate."

The Tracesmart Corporate website provides access to a variety of data intelligence services such as self-key consumer tracing, existence checks anti money-laundering and know your customer identity verification. Users of these services come from a broad and growing range of industries that include, amongst others, the financial sector, professional services and the media.

Paul Weathersby, Tracesmart's Technical Director added just before its launch, "Following exhaustive examination of our previous site and listening to visitors and our customers, we were keen to improve the user experience and design. The website has gone through more than just a face lift and early indication from those consulted on the project suggests a more than favourable reaction. We are extremely delighted with the new design."

Tracesmart Corporate has been appointed by HSBC Actuaries and Consultants Limited (HACL) to provide their proprietary existence and tracing services. The facility will allow the verification of customer data against vital consumer information, including key UK mortality records; permitting the HSBC employee benefit consultancy to continuously and confidently monitor their client database in order to maintain contact with existing customers and highlight possible fraudulent activity.

HACL is part of the HSBC Group and a market leader in the UK specialising in actuarial and employee benefits consultancy, providing opinion, advice and services to pension scheme trustees, employers and individuals. It has become one of the leading employee benefits and actuarial consultancies in the UK.

Following stringent examination amongst stiff competition, including the incumbent, Tracesmart was recently awarded the three year preferred supplier contract. Mike Trezise, Tracesmart's Managing Director commented, "Our meticulous procedures and thorough understanding of our customers' requirements has successfully delivered yet another major account. Our existence facility and unique multi-tiered tracing solutions are currently delivering significant benefits to our clients. We look forward to working with HACL to deliver the best possible and most cost effective service available."

Tracesmart, the Cardiff based data intelligence company, provides a comprehensive and unique facility to trace people, delivered by a team of in-house tracing agents, the service offers a tiered search solution to a growing number of companies. Tracesmart is also one of a small number of organisations to receive a weekly update of the UK Death Registration Information from the General Register Office (GRO) to enhance its mortality screening facility. Approximately 12,000 deaths are recorded weekly in the UK, and this amassed information, combined with Tracesmart's vast consumer database, drives the company’s proprietary service 'Existence Alert'. The service is in essence a data cleansing process, which provides a continuous screening facility that identifies deceased individuals and 'gone aways' (people that move home without notifying a change of address) at the earliest possible moment, allowing appropriate action to be taken to minimise risk and combat escalating fraud such as the impersonation of the deceased.

Jim Gallagher, Head of Pension Administration Solutions at HACL commented; "We continually strive to improve the service capability and proposition we are able to provide to our clients. We are therefore delighted to be working with Tracesmart who have developed a market leading service in what is quite a specialist area. We look forward to working with them so that we can provide an even better service to all our clients."

Consumer data specialists, Tracesmart Corporate, have won two leading business awards within a day. The first honour was presented at the CSA & DBSG Awards held in Brighton and the second at The Welsh Chamber of Commerce Awards in Cardiff.

Following a recent period of sustained growth and expansion, Tracesmart are not only experiencing increasing demand for their products and services but are now being recognised for the quality of their work within their industry.

The first award was received from the Credit Services Association (CSA) for Best PR/Advertising Campaign. Featuring an 'empty' tortoise shell and the strap-line 'Nobody Home', the campaign conveys one of the problems faced by the collections industry; whether a debtor is still resident at a given address.

Tracesmart is a major player within the collections industry offering a range of services that include data cleansing and debtor tracing, facilities increasingly employed to verify an individual's residential status and locate gone away debtors. The Tracesmart marketing team are delighted to have won the award as their Marketing Manager, Adam Smith, commented,

"It was a really strong competitive field but I believe the combination of original yet simple imagery and copy, conveyed our message well. The campaign results have themselves been more than enough reward, but this is the icing on the cake." Twenty four hours later the best of Welsh business was celebrated as the culmination of the Chamber of Commerce Business week in Wales. At the glittering awards dinner hosted by journalist and TV personality, John Sergeant, Tracesmart accepted their second award, Excellence in eBusiness.

Web based identity checks and online facilities to trace people are both increasingly used by a growing legion of operators from a diverse range of industries and Tracesmart is one of the leading companies to offer such services. With an expanding portfolio of blue chip companies, Tracesmart are reaping the rewards of their recent investment and development.

Mike Trezise, Tracesmart's Managing Director commented on winning the awards, "This is the first year that Tracesmart has submitted an entry for any award and within a day of each other we've won two, which I feel is a testimony to our hard work. We look forward to continuing in the same vein and hopefully gain further recognition in the future."

Consumer data specialists Tracesmart have been shortlisted for a new industry award. Following the submission of an application into the 'Best PR/Advertising Campaign' category of the CSA (Credit Services Association) Awards, the Tracesmart Corporate 'Nobody home?' campaign has made the shortlist.The winner is to be announced at the CSA's annual Gala Dinner, which concludes the CSA & DBSG (Debt Buyers and Sellers Group) Conference in Brighton later this month.

Tracesmart's 'Nobody home?' entry, employs a variety of promotional mediums to communicate its message. The campaign promotes the Tracesmart Corporate data cleansing and debtor tracing services, which can be utilised to verify debtor residency and trace people.

The message which the campaign conveys is that Tracesmart's services make it simple to confirm whether a debtor is resident or not - a task which is even more pertinent in the current economic climate, as more individuals attempt to avoid paying debt. Commenting on the imagery used to symbolise how difficult it can be to confirm residency, Adam Smith – Tracesmart's Marketing Manager – commented,

"Our creative brainstorming session led to the idea of a vacant house to symbolise someone who may no longer be resident, however this concept did not deliver the striking imagery we required. It eventually evolved into the more abstract concept of an empty tortoise shell. This image ticked all the boxes; whilst the shell appears empty, it could still have a resident, thus epitomising the problem of confirming debtor residency."

The concept has clearly worked for Smith's team as Tracesmart have seen impressive results from the campaign. Commenting on the effectiveness of the 'Nobody home?' campaign, Chris Rothwell – Sales Director for Tracesmart – remarked, "The campaign’s creative concept has been well received by the industry and this has been reflected in the campaign results to date. So far, in comparison to our last financial year, lead generation is up 53% for the sector, which has significantly boosted sales of the services promoted by the campaign. From a brand awareness point of view, this campaign has definitely helped to highlight how we can help debt collection agencies and enforcers verify debtor residency and locate gone aways."

Tracesmart, the data and fraud prevention specialists, this week reached a landmark half million mortality records received from the General Register Office (GRO) as part of the Disclosure of Death Registration Information (DDRI) scheme. The UK Death Registration Information (DRI) was first released in September 2008 and Tracesmart Corporate were the first organisation to be approved by the GRO to receive the weekly update of the DRI following rigorous examination. The DRI is only accessible for the purposes prescribed by law and is stored within Tracesmart's secure data facility.

The Home Office estimate that identity fraud costs the UK economy over £1.2 billion a year and the half million death records accumulated since the beginning of the scheme less than a year ago, supplemented by Tracesmart's additional and vast database, will significantly help combat today's ever increasing and resourceful fraudster. Mortality data is a key tool in the battle to beat identity fraud, especially its derivatives – impersonation of the deceased (IOD) and the lesser known concealment fraud.

Although both IOD and concealment fraud involve deceiving organisations into the belief that a deceased person is still alive and dishonestly claiming and receiving lines of credit and other beneficial services, the perpetrators differ greatly.

IOD fraud is often committed by professional fraudsters who utilise previous occupant's mail or obituaries to assume an individual's identity and obtain credit or benefits illegally. In contrast, concealment fraud is often committed by the deceased's spouse or dependents, who deliberately neglect to notify the correct parties of the deceased's passing in order to receive illicit funds.

Tracesmart is one of the UK's leading providers of identity fraud prevention tools, and its clients benefit significantly from the DDRI scheme as electronic identity checks and mortality screening searches are conducted utilising the weekly feed of the DRI. In addition to its identity verification facility, Tracesmart also provides a data cleansing service and an online resource to trace people for positive or negative intentions.

Highlighting the benefits of the DRI to Tracesmart and its clients, Mike Trezise, the company's Managing Director commented, "Regularly updated mortality information has become crucial in our fight against fraud. Obviously, the more information we hold, better the chance we have of highlighting discrepancies within client databases and possible cases of fraud. The half million records of new mortality data received since the inception of the DDRI scheme is certainly a landmark and has already significantly helped Tracesmart, and our service users, expose fraudulent activity."

Origo, the eCommerce standards and services body for the UK financial services industry, has appointed Tracesmart Corporate as their exclusive service provider to deliver their new online facility - the Origo Data Matching Service (ODMS) on a 3 year contract. The bespoke data screening service allows financial providers to check their customer data against key sources of information, including records of deceased UK individuals and those no longer residing at a given address, which in turn helps them to manage payments in-force, reserves and identify fraudulent activity.

Tracesmart, the Cardiff based tracing, identity verification and data cleansing agency, is one of a small number of companies to receive a weekly update of the UK Death Registration Information from the General Register Office (GRO), and this information, along with Tracesmart’s vast consumer database, drives the company’s proprietary service ‘Existence Alert’ which distinctively fulfils Origo’s requirements for its new data matching service.

Paul Pettitt, Managing Director of Origo, commented on Tracesmart’s commission, “Origo is delighted to announce the launch of this service, which addresses fraud issues and delivers immediate bottom line benefits for providers. Origo is uniquely placed to identify collective requirements, following which we have procured a cost effective service to meet those requirements. We are looking forward to working with our chosen supplier, Tracesmart, to deliver immediate benefits to providers.”

The ODMS will assist providers in mitigating risks associated with annuity overpayment to the recently deceased, combat ‘Impersonation of the Deceased’ fraud and highlight ‘gone aways’ policyholders who have moved from their last known address. Tracesmart currently provide similar services to numerous other financial institutions throughout the UK, including the vast majority of third party administrators within the pension sector.

Following exhaustive examination and assessment, Tracesmart emerged as the preferred data supplier for Origo’s new service and Mike Trezise, Tracesmart’s Managing Director, commented, “We are delighted to have secured such a significant account. Tracesmart’s ability to fully recognise Origo’s requirements is fundamental to our success. The provision of relevant data, accessed via an easy to use platform will significantly help Origo’s members to verify customer residency and flag gone aways, in addition to mortality screening their databases. We look forward to working with Origo and their associates, to deliver the best possible service.”

Rick Williams, Actuarial and Technical Support Manager of Friends Provident, one of Origo’s original members and sponsors, added, “ODMS will allow Friends Provident to keep in touch with its customers in a simple and non-intrusive manner, without the bureaucracy that annuity providers have traditionally used. Using better technology to reduce costs, whilst not losing sight of our customers, is what we are all about. As the first company to use ODMS we have been fully involved in the development of this service and are looking forward to our relationship with both Tracesmart and Origo.”

Consumer data specialists Tracesmart, renowned for helping both business and the consumer to trace people, have partnered with NeuStar to employ their UltraDNS service. Utilizing UltraDNS will greatly improve connection reliability from their Tracesmart Corporate and consumer services to their datacentres. The move forms part of the company's disaster recovery program and their continued commitment to service quality and dependability.

Well regarded worldwide, NeuStar currently works with the likes of Tesco, SalesForce, Forbes, Oracle and My Space. With a reputation for technical superiority and service reliability, NeuStar's UltraDNS service was the ideal choice for Tracesmart as it employs an external domain name system spanning continents and housed in 6 data centres, ensuring continuous availability and speed. Using UltraDNS, Tracesmart will now be able to interchange between their datacentres much faster - a benefit that is of great importance for disaster recovery planning.

As part of the company's larger business continuity plan, the UltraDNS implementation means that in the highly unlikely event that Tracesmart's core data centre fails due to a natural or human-induced disaster, the company can quickly switch to their backup datacentre. Discussing how their new approach will negate the impact of external physical catastrophes, Tracesmart's Technical Director, Paul Weathersby, commented,

"The new UltraDNS service will enable us to have a standby response to any possible disaster that impacts upon our primary datacentre. The new service will divert service traffic to our reserve datacentre; which means our consumer and business clients should experience as little service degradation as possible."

The new implementation also adds further reliability to Tracesmart's services, such as their identity checks service, AML, which is used for anti-money laundering purposes. Additionally, the employment of the UltraDNS service will benefit Tracesmart's internal functions, as it means their corporate specialist staff will still have access to the various datasets needed for manual tracing and data cleansing in the event of the company's core datacentre failing. From a customer standpoint this will further benefit Tracesmart's corporate clients as it means their projects would have little or no additional delay in turnaround.

Over the last six months Tracesmart, one of the UK's leading providers of consumer data services, has made over 1,000,000 amendments to their Electoral Register 2009 data. Conducted over the period January '09 to June '09, the changes were made possible through the Rolling Register updates which the company receives on a monthly basis – ensuring Tracesmart holds the most accurate data available.

Both the full and edited Electoral Registers play a key role in the company's Tracesmart Corporate suite of services. Edited Electoral Register data is utilised in the business's data cleansing, existence check and debtor tracing systems. Whilst Tracesmart’s electronic identity verification service, AML, draws upon full Electoral Register data.

Tracesmart's Electoral Register records were refreshed using monthly Rolling Register updates. The Rolling Register is a monthly update which provides individuals whose personal circumstances change during the electoral year – for example a home move or marriage – with the opportunity to re-register on the Electoral Register with their new details. Prior to the inception of the Rolling Register this was only possible once a year.

These updates allow Tracesmart to refresh their records on a monthly basis – ensuring their clients can access the most up-to-date consumer information available. It is essential that the company's datasets are constantly updated, as many of their services are relied upon for legal compliance. For example their AML service which facilitates electronic identity checks, helps Tracesmart clients to ensure they comply with UK anti-money laundering legislation, making it imperative that data provided is as current and accurate as possible.

Commenting on the company's continued commitment to data quality, Paul Weathersby, Technical Director for Tracesmart, noted, "All of our services, whether for corporate or consumer use, draw upon the most recent data available. We conduct updates on an annual, monthly, weekly and even daily basis to ensure accuracy. In addition to regular updates, the company conducts its own data collation projects; some of which involve extensive digitisation of data held in hard copy format. This commitment to data quality and diversity allows for constant service augmentation and innovation, which in turn allows us to retain our market leading position."

In order to offer their customers increased protection against impersonation of the deceased (IOD) fraud, Tracesmart have considerably increased the coverage of mortality data they hold. The consumer data specialists have now incorporated the General Register Office (GRO) death indexes for England and Wales from 1980-1983 into their Tracesmart Corporate suite of services; this being only the beginning of their comprehensive death index digitisation project.

The GRO has collated registers of important civil events, such as births, deaths and marriages, since 1837, but it was not until 1984 that they began to digitise records. All registrations prior to 1984 are held on microfiche. In 2005 the GRO initiated the 'Digitisation of Vital Events' (DOVE) project to digitise the birth, death and marriage indexes, but unfortunately following major delays the project was put on hold, with only birth records up to 1934 and death records up to 1957 having been digitised; it is not known when the project will recommence.

Death index data is a pivotal tool in the fight against IOD fraud. With a lack of historical death data available electronically and having acquired microfiches holding all deaths registered in England and Wales covering 1960 – 1983, Tracesmart embarked on a comprehensive death index digitisation project. Utilising an offshore service provider, the company are ensuring 99.95% accuracy on all records digitised through a strict quality control procedure and, when completed in 2010, the project will yield approximately 14,500,000 death records in a digital format.

Tracesmart have completed the initial stage of this project and the 1980 – 1983 death indexes (some 2,500,000 records) have already been integrated into their mortality database. These additions make it both the most comprehensive and extensive commercially available mortality database in the UK.

Whilst the 1980 – 1983 death indexes will be essential for conducting comprehensive identity checks and data cleansing exercises, they will also play a significant role when financial institutions wish to trace people as part of an asset reunification program. From their considerable experience in tracing dormant account holders, Tracesmart know that many of the missing individuals will transpire to have died prior to 1984. Whereas to identify such events previously involved labour intensive research, it can now be done at the click of a button.

Commenting on how the new death records and their ongoing digitisation project will help their customers Mike Trezise, Managing Director of Tracesmart, noted,

"Following on from the integration of death registration information into our anti-fraud services last year, we are continuing to enhance our mortality database. From a service standpoint this data means we can improve and enhance much of our portfolio, especially our identity verification and mortality screening services. This, in turn, allows our clients to better defend against mortality related fraud, protecting both the company and consumer alike."

Following the acquisition of the adjoining waterfront office accommodation in Cardiff Bay, Tracesmart – one of the UK's leading suppliers of consumer data services – are transferring their tracing, customer service, sales and marketing teams to their new high-tech residence on completion of an extensive refurbishment project. The company has in-effect doubled their workforce over the past 18 months and the office expansion will more than adequately service their growth.

Counting the prominent and prestigious St David's Hotel and Spa as a neighbour, Tracesmart's waterside position is in one of the most sought after areas within Cardiff Bay's newly developed and highly acclaimed business and recreation quarter. In-line with the original design of their headquarters, the ultra-modern theme continues; reflecting the company's values and persona whilst providing a first-rate environment for their workforce.

Tracesmart Corporate, the company's commercial division, has been the key driver in the organisation's development, delivering a wide range of services from identity checks for anti-money laundering purposes, to mortality screening for fraud prevention. Bucking the current economic trend, Tracesmart is experiencing continued growth across all areas. Demand for their data cleansing and tracing services has grown dramatically as the need to trace people continues to increase.

To effectively serve their ever-growing client portfolio, Tracesmart continues to recruit specialist staff and the refurbishment project will afford much needed scope to accommodate their future staffing requirements. Whilst the extended offices have served the company well until now, the reconfiguration and restructuring will allow for space to be utilised much more ergonomically. This frees up a greater working area which can be used to house future employees.

Mike Trezise, Tracesmart's Managing Director commented, "We believe this area of Cardiff is the perfect location for our company. When we were searching for new premises we had no need to look further than next door. The initial move allowed us to expand our team, and this redesign will allow us to expand even further. When completed, the refurbishment will solve our accommodation needs in line with projected future business and staffing requirements."

The full 2009 Electoral Register has now been integrated into the Tracesmart anti-money laundering (AML) identity check service. The inclusion of the full 2009 Electoral Register, one of the many positive datasets the system interrogates, will ensure as many legitimate individuals as possible are cleared by the ID check at the first instance.

Tracesmart’s AML service allows users to perform identity checks that help them to fulfil their AML ‘Know Your Customer’ obligations, and it meets the standards set for electronic verification prescribed by the Joint Money Laundering Steering Group (JMLSG).

The UK Electoral Register has two formats – the edited Electoral Register which is available for any commercial use, but does not contain the entire UK electorate as individuals are able to ‘opt out’; and the full Electoral Register which can only be used by companies for credit referencing and anti-money laundering purposes, but contains the entire UK electorate.

Utilising the full 2009 Electoral Register will enhance the pass rate of legitimate individuals at the initial check stage. Historically, the system utilised edited Electoral Register data as part of the identity check, which whilst highly accurate, could marginally affect the initial check pass rate, due to the opt-out clause; this meant further checks – such as document verification – would have to be conducted. Chris Rothwell, Sales Director at Tracesmart, highlighted how the addition of the full Electoral Register will make for quicker identity checks.

“The integration of the full 2009 Electoral Register into our AML system, means that our service users can now swiftly and efficiently identify more of their clients without requesting additional documentation. However, the ability to verify identity documents such as passports, driving licences, credit or debit cards and utility bills, has been preserved in case further checks are required. The system ensures that identity checks are conducted in a business friendly manner, whilst also meeting anti-money laundering obligations.”

This latest update to the AML service follows on from the recent introduction of a ‘single click’ search interface. Previously, users had to build the identity profile of an individual by searching datasets and verifying details through a multi-tabbed interface. Whilst many Tracesmart clients found this interface conducive to their business needs, customer feedback indentified the need for a ‘single click’ check. Mike Trezise, Managing Director at Tracesmart, believes this customer-centric approach to service development is one of the company’s strongest points,

“We have always believed it to be truly important that there is a constant dialogue between ourselves and our clients, especially concerning the services themselves. After all, it’s our clients that use the systems day in, day out, so it essential that their needs are fulfilled. As such, Tracesmart will continue to listen to its customers, front-line staff and market research, to develop its services accordingly.”

Access to the full Electoral Register data, via Tracesmart’s AML service, is only available to companies who meet strict data protection pre-requisites.

Tracesmart, renowned suppliers of existence checks, data cleansing services and consumer tracing systems, have announced that they now offer a choice of user interfaces for their online people tracing tool, which is accessible via their Tracesmart Corporate website. A new tracing interface has been developed following extensive market research and client consultation, and it is anticipated that it will notably increase trace productivity.

Previously, Tracesmart provided clients with a multi-tab interface which allowed for a wide variety of people searches. However, now they offer the choice between the multi-tab interface and a more simplistic option which allows the user to conduct a variety of searches from a single gateway. Commenting on the addition of the new interface, Paul Weathersby, Technical Director for Tracesmart, noted,

“Following consultation with our frontline staff we identified a demand for an interface which would allow the user to conduct quick searches from a single page rather than navigating through multiple tabs. As such we developed a new interface which allows the user to utilise the most frequently used search functions of the original interface but from a single access point. The new service has all the power of the original interface but the level of search customisation is reduced allowing for a more streamlined service delivery.”

The new interface means that Tracesmart’s customers can conduct individual or multiple people, address, street or business searches more efficiently. This ensures that whether a Tracesmart client needs to conduct a positive or negative trace, tasks such as debtor tracing or the reunification of unclaimed assets can be carried out quicker, thus saving Tracesmart’s clients time and resources.

The new interface is one of many upgrades and additions Tracesmart are making to their corporate suite of services. Discussing the motivation behind the new interface Mike Trezise, Managing Director for Tracesmart, commented,

“As a company we pride ourselves on being in touch with what our markets and clients need, and as such constantly strive to provide the highest level of service provision possible. The new interface is further proof that we listen to what our customers say and the market intelligence our frontline staff feedback to us. This customer-centric ideology allows us to stay ahead of our competitors and has enabled the company to continue to grow despite the current economic climate.”

Tracesmart, leading providers of anti-fraud, people tracing and data cleansing systems, have further improved their market dominance within the pensions sector following an extensive promotional campaign. In addition to a sustained marketing drive, growth in demand for their services has also been attributed to the launch of their Existence suite of services, which is allowing pension scheme managers and trustees to conduct regular reliable existence checks and reduce the risk of fraud.

Tracesmart’s Existence suite of services has grabbed the attention of both pension funds and third party administrators alike, as the industry explores ways of reducing liability and demonstrating compliance. Tracesmart anticipated the rise in demand, as Mike Trezise, the company’s managing director explained,

“Performing existence checks and confirming scheme members are alive was traditionally a protracted, unreliable task; both costly and inefficient, the old manual methods failed to achieve the results scheme managers required. When automated electronic existence checks were originally introduced, a good proportion of the pensions industry opted to employ them – we were therefore confident that the launch of an even more sophisticated and accurate service would be widely embraced.”

The interest generated by this service offering, coupled with a growing demand for the Tracesmart Corporate data cleansing and pension tracing services, has catapulted the company to the forefront of the market place. This is a position they aim to retain through continued product development, first class customer support and continuous campaigning as Adam Smith, Marketing Manager at Tracesmart commented,

“Our research indicates that we are the market leader for mortality screening and pension tracing services in the industry. We aim to amplify this presence and maintain our prominent market position with increased advertising and brand exposure in print, online, at relevant industry events and via a variety of multi-channel direct marketing campaigns. We are confident that despite the economic climate, we will sustain our unbroken year on year growth.”

In addition to the current service offering, Tracesmart continuously develop bespoke solutions for the pensions industry to further deliver added value and benefit to their customers.

Chris Rothwell (Sales Director), Ben Evans (Pensions Sales Consultant) and I, attended the event along with 12 guests and I am pleased to say that a number of our clients won awards – so congratulations to Hymans Robertson, MNPA, Hewitt Associates and Legal & General. All the awards were presented by the very funny Michael McIntyre who even gave Ben and I a name drop in his routine, after we hijacked him for an impromptu photo shoot in the foyer.

All in all, the evening was a great success - we would like to thank our guests for joining us and once again congratulate our clients who received accolades recognising their hard work.

Mike Trezise
Managing Director for Tracesmart Ltd

Mike meets Michael McIntyre

Tracesmart Ltd, leading suppliers of people tracing services, electronic identity checks and data cleansing systems, have this week established a new London office in 30 St Mary Axe, widely known as ‘The Gherkin’. The Cardiff based company has procured an office in the City due to an exponential growth in the number of clients based in and around London.

The Gherkin is situated where The Baltic Exchange was previously located and at 180 metres tall is the second tallest building in the City of London. In 2005, following a survey of the world's largest firms of architects, The Gherkin was voted the most admired new building in the world; this allure and presence in the City were part of the reason Tracesmart chose it as their secondary base of operations as Mike Trezise, Tracesmart’s Managing Director, explained,

“The Gherkin is one of the best known and most revered buildings in London and as such was the ideal choice for our new office. Its location also played a considerable part in our decision to locate there – we currently have a large number of City-based financial clients and having an office in the heart of London’s financial district will enable us to better interact with them and meet their needs.”

The ever growing number of London and South of England clients who employ the company’s Tracesmart Corporate suite of services, was, as Trezise noted, a key factor in the decision to set up a London base. These clients include financial institutions who call upon Tracesmart to help reunite dormant account holders with their unclaimed assets, high profile pension sector companies that utilise the company’s pension tracing services and life assurance companies wishing to conduct existence checks. Commenting on Tracesmart’s prestigious new office Chris Rothwell, Sales Director for Tracesmart, highlighted the role it will play,

“My team and I currently travel across the length and breadth of the UK to meet clients, yet we’ve noticed that more and more were requesting meetings in London; as such the next logical step was to locate an office in the City. Our new office in The Gherkin is a key part of our business development strategy as it will enable us to reinforce our current client relationships and nurture new ones by offering a geographically preferable meeting spot for those in the South East.

Cardiff will remain the headquarters for Tracesmart and we will continue to hold many meetings there. Our current offices are always well received by clients; as well as giving them the opportunity to see the company in action, many people have commented on how pleasant a business environment our offices are with the spectacular views of Cardiff Bay.”

Tracesmart’s new London office is located at:

Floor 28
30 St Mary Axe
London
EC3A 8BF

Tel: 020 7469 4204
Fax: 020 7469 4001

Cardiff based suppliers of data cleansing and people tracing, Tracesmart, have launched a new online service to combat money laundering.

Tracesmart are renowned for their tracing expertise as they currently help reunite unclaimed assets with their rightful owners and offer a variety of pension tracing services. However the company also offers a host of other provisions via its Tracesmart Corporate division, not least of which is their electronic identity verification facility, ID.  Identity checks are an essential part of current anti-money laundering (AML) legislation and as such, ID is currently used by a vast range of businesses as part of their AML measures.

Previously, Tracesmart customers using ID, needed to select multiple tabs and verification criteria to conduct an identity check as part of AML procedures. This is no longer the case, as Paul Weathersby, Technical Director for Tracesmart explained, “It was noticed by our technical team that to conduct a thorough AML search using ID meant that multiple search tabs had to be utilised and what Tracesmart’s customers really needed was the means by which multiple tabs could quickly be searched simultaneously. As such, we have developed AML – allowing users to swiftly and confidently verify client identity. We have also created an improved interface to make this an easy and straight forward task.”

Money laundering is considered to have a massive negative financial impact upon the UK economy and the addition of Tracesmart’s new AML service is another means of combating the problem, fighting those who use the money to fund criminal activities.

Speaking about the new service, Mike Trezise, Managing Director for Tracesmart, added, “Our new AML service is further proof of our commitment as a company to product development, improved customer service and most importantly, confirmation of our responsibilities as a data company that we continue to fight any form of identity related crime. We strive to improve our services so that we can protect our customers, and in turn, their customers, from the negative impact of identity fraud.”

Tracesmart, Cardiff based supplier of consumer intelligence solutions, have appointed a new IT Manager to help run their IT operations. This month, Craig Strong assumed responsibility for the day to day running of Tracesmart’s IT department to both support their Technical Director, Paul Weathersby, and drive new service rollout.

Renowned for providing companies with the tools to trace people, Tracesmart are constantly developing new service offerings as well as enhancing and upgrading their current range, which includes online and specialist people tracing services (used for activities such as reuniting unclaimed assets and debtor tracing), consumer data cleansing, and online identity checks. As part of Tracesmart’s IT team, Strong has worked tirelessly to help drive the company’s service provision forward – this perseverance has enabled the company to efficiently develop and bring to market new services in response to developments in their core markets.

Prior to joining Tracesmart, Strong worked for a variety of companies – from SME to blue chip – since his graduation in 2005. Currently a member of the British Computer Society (BCS), Strong has enjoyed a range of honours including earning the “Fujitsu networking Award” whilst at university, and more recently, when working for Hargreaves Lansdown, his team earned the company the honour of “Best Online IFA” from the Online Finance Awards. With this wealth of experience and success under his belt, Strong is well positioned to manage Tracesmart’s IT team.

Commenting on Strong’s recent promotion Paul Weathersby, Tracesmart’s Technical Director stated, “Over the past 6 months Craig has shown a flare for managing the IT team, been at the forefront of the teams development and has stood out as a natural leader – as such he was the obvious choice for the role of IT Manager.

The addition of an IT Manager in the department's structure ensures it will keep running smoothly and that we can continue our high levels of customer service, whilst also working on rolling out new services and features for current services.  I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Craig and wish him all the best for the future.”

Leading suppliers of debtor tracing and data cleansing services, Tracesmart welcome the award winning J2 Solutions to their continually expanding list of tracing agency clients. J2 Solutions will be utilising the company's online people tracing system with a view to improving their already high levels of trace success.

Operating in a variety of industries, J2 Solutions are based in Northwest England and currently employ over 30 highly trained and dedicated telephone tracing agents. The company was established in 2004 by their Managing Director, Gary Jones, who joined the debt collection industry as a doorstep collector at the age of 18, before progressing to generalised investigations and then specialising in telephone tracing.

Jones was recently appointed to join the board of the Credit Services Association (CSA), the official voice of the UK debt collection industry, following a substantial level of involvement with the organisation and in particular his role as the driving force behind the CSA Tracing Code of Conduct. Commenting on the code of conduct and why his company has opted to use Tracesmart, Jones noted,

"The debt collection industry has endured more than its fair share of negative press over recent years in regards to ethical debtor tracing. I fully support the CSA's Tracing Code of Conduct and implore tracers to only conduct debtor tracing exercises using fully legitimate and ethical means. As part of our commitment to ethical tracing, J2 Solutions only utilise appropriate sources of information – one of the reasons we have opted to sign up with Tracesmart. We also hope that in using their system we can continue to improve our trace success rates and further cement our place in the top flight of tracing."

J2 Solutions join Tracesmart's diverse client base, which include the likes of renowned financial institutions who use the company to reunite individuals with unclaimed assets, and solicitors who use their online systems to conduct identity checks as part of compliance measures. Tracing agencies are, however, some of the company's key clients and Tracesmart helps these organisations to efficiently and ethically trace people; commenting on these core clients Chris Rothwell, Sales Director for Tracesmart noted,

"Tracesmart has a proven track record with tracing agencies and our services are utilised by a wealth of companies from sole traders right the way through to blue chip. A comprehensive working knowledge of tracers' needs and continual development of our services, ensure our clients have an effective, reliable and ethical tool to use when conducting positive and negative traces. We fully support the work of Gary Jones and the CSA's Tracing Code of Conduct, and are now proud to welcome J2 Solutions as a client."

Cardiff based Tracesmart, leading suppliers of consumer tracing and data cleansing services, have signed the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) Personal Information Promise. Tracesmart have pledged their support and compliance with the ICO initiative as part of their companywide commitment to the ethical and compliant use of personal data.

The Personal Information Promise was launched on the 28th January 2009 by the ICO to celebrate European Data Protection Day. The aim of the Personal Information Promise is to improve compliance with the Data Protection Act 1998 and help restore public faith in organisations that hold personal information. Public trust in bodies holding such information has been tarnished in recent years following multiple instances of data breaches and many organisations displaying an apparent lack of diligence when it comes to data security.

Tracesmart are keen to demonstrate their commitment to the proper use of personal data as it is at the heart of all the company’s services. This includes their online consumer site, which members of the public use to trace people; and their Tracesmart Corporate suite of services, which are employed by various public, private and third sector organisations to reunite individuals with unclaimed assets, conduct online identity checks and cleanse consumer data.

Mike Trezise, Managing Director at Tracesmart, was the company’s official signatory and he highlighted how signing the ICO’s Personal Information Promise is very much in line with the company’s data protection culture,

“Our signing of the Personal Information Promise further reinforces our commitment to ethical data usage and corporate social responsibility. As a company Tracesmart goes to great lengths to guarantee that not only is the data we supply accurate, but also stored securely and used responsibly; both internally and by our customers. Ethical data usage is paramount in our business activities and we welcome any opportunity to build both consumer and commercial confidence in companies that handle personal information. ”

Tracesmart has been exclusively appointed by Britannia Building Society to help reunite missing customers with their accounts. As part of Britannia’s comprehensive program of activity to trace customers with unclaimed assets, Tracesmart, the Cardiff based tracing agency, is to trace people who hold accounts which have been dormant for 15 years or more.

Assets go missing in a number of ways; account holders lose track of accounts when they change address and forget to notify their financial institution; other assets are ‘lost’ when customers pass away and their relatives are not aware of accounts; so over time savings are forgotten.

The Government has defined a dormant account, in this instance, as one where there has been no customer activity for a period of 15 years. Astonishingly, vast amounts of money are lying unclaimed in financial institutions across the UK as people lose track of their assets. According to The Commission on Unclaimed Assets, one in three adults in Britain believes they have a dormant account of some description.

Tim Franklin, Managing Director of Member Business at Britannia, said; "Our programme to reunite customers with their unclaimed accounts has been successful, but there are some members who we've not been able to trace through the records we hold. We enlisted Tracesmart to find those customers using their advanced tracing methods and expertise." 

Mike Trezise, Tracesmart’s Managing Director, commented, “We are of course delighted to be exclusively appointed by Britannia, the UK’s second largest building society, to assist them with their asset reunification program. Our advanced data cleansing systems, skilled tracing agents and unique multi-tiered search solutions have enabled us to work closely with Britannia, reinforcing our claim to be the UK’s leading tracing agency. Tracesmart’s continued investment in key personnel and cutting edge technology is now reaping significant reward.”

Trezise added, “Following the enactment of the Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Act in November 2008, Tracesmart is now well placed to assist more and more financial institutions as they enter into their asset reunification program.”

Cardiff based Tracesmart‚ leading supplier of asset reunification and identity verification services‚ has announced it is now a professional associate member of the British Bankers’ Association (BBA). Tracesmart has joined the BBA to gain a deeper insight into the financial sector and share its expert knowledge with the banking community.

Tracesmart currently supplies a wide range of services to the financial sector which are used for a variety of purposes – from specialist tracing and data cleansing services which drive asset reunification campaigns‚ to electronic identity checks which are used in anti-money laundering and know your customer exercises. Becoming a professional associate member of the BBA will ensure Tracesmart is fully aware of challenges the industry faces and allow the company to share its extensive specialist knowledge. Mike Trezise‚ Managing Director at Tracesmart‚ highlighted the company’s long tradition of working with professional organisations‚

“We are already members of‚ and work with‚ numerous professional bodies to the benefit of both parties - we now hope that in working with the BBA we can continue this practice and expand our knowledge of the banking industry. A better understanding of the sector inevitably allows us to further tailor our service offerings and can only lead to better service provision for our clients.”

In addition to information sharing‚ the company aims to raise the awareness of the Tracesmart brand in the banking community – the BBA has members all over the globe and its member banks together form the biggest international banking centre on the planet. On welcoming Tracesmart as a professional associate member‚ Jason Cole‚ Commercial Director of the BBA‚ noted the diverse array of companies that support the BBA‚

“The BBA is the leading UK banking and financial services trade association and acts on behalf of over 200 members from 60 different countries. We are pleased to welcome Tracesmart as a professional associate member of the BBA. This membership consists of a variety of firms including companies from the legal‚ accounting‚ consultancy and technology sectors. All have one thing in common – a desire to participate and share information amongst their peers from the banking community.”

Cardiff based Tracesmart‚ renowned supplier of debtor tracing services‚ has announced it has become a member of the Debt Buyers and Sellers Group (DBSG). Tracesmart has joined the DBSG as part of its commitment to the debt collection industry and to provide valuable specialist input on some of the core processes used to recover debt‚ namely data cleansing and tracing.

Formed for the benefit of companies who buy and/or sell debt‚ the DBSG is the official voice of the sector‚ administering best practice and offering guidance and support where needed. Created by the Credit Services Association (CSA)‚ the group’s inaugural meeting took place in December 2003 and was officially launched at the CSA’s 2004 Annual Conference. Today the DBSG has in excess of 80 members including some of the biggest companies in the industry who trade billions of pounds worth of debt each year.

As well as helping to expand the company’s presence within the debt collection arena‚ joining the DBSG will help Tracesmart to keep its finger on the pulse of one of its core industries. Chris Rothwell‚ Sales Director for Tracesmart explained further‚

“Tracesmart is already an active member of the CSA‚ having a regular presence at their events and in their publications and also providing consultation on key industry topics. Having a pro-active involvement has helped us expand our knowledge of the industry‚ build our customer base and also allowed us to provide valuable guidance on the areas in which we specialise. We now hope that by working closely with the DBSG we can both provide our expertise to enhance best practice in key recovery activities and raise our company profile.”

Tracesmart currently holds memberships and affiliations with many professional organisations and bodies; these allow the company to remain up-to-date with industry trends and also provide forums through which valuable information can be shared. Mike Trezise‚ Managing Director at Tracesmart‚ comments on the importance of aligning with industry professional bodies‚

“We have a hugely diverse customer base and whether the client is a firm of solicitors conducting identity checks for anti-money laundering purposes‚ or a debt collection agency using our systems to trace people‚ we want our services to completely fulfil their particular needs. By affiliating with professional organisations we are able to identify changes in relevant industries as they happen and tailor our services to meet client needs.”

Tracesmart, renowned for supplying companies with data cleansing and debtor tracing solutions, have announced that they have uploaded 2009 edited Electoral register records to their database. The records have also been integrated into their Tracesmart Corporate product suite to provide their customers with access to the most up-to-date electoral information available – making them the first supplier of online people tracing services and identity checks to do so.

The definitive annual snapshot of the UK electorate, the Electoral register has two formats – the full version which is utilised to facilitate voting and credit reference checks; and the edited Electoral register which is commercially available and employed by many companies to trace people, cleanse consumer data and verify individual’s identities in know your customer exercises.

Commenting from their Cardiff Bay headquarters, Paul Weathersby, Technical Director at Tracesmart, notes how the loading of the 2009 electoral records onto their database has been their quickest to date,

"This year the process of adding electoral data to our system has been the swiftest and most efficient in company history. We have significantly improved on our strong track record by loading the data earlier than we ever have – this has been possible through both considerable expansion of our IT team throughout 2008 and an enhancement of our data collection process."

Edited Electoral register records are a key component in both identity checks and tracing exercises as they contain both the name and address of UK citizens – essential pieces of information if you need to identify or locate an individual. The prompt release of 2009 edited Electoral register records demonstrates one of Tracesmart’s key philosophies – that their clients should be able to access the freshest data at the earliest opportunity, as Mike Trezise, Tracesmart’s Managing Director, explains,

"Electoral records play a key role in all of our services – especially in our online tracing resource and our electronic identity verification tool. As such we acquired Electoral register 2009 records at the earliest possible time to ensure that users of our services have access to the most up-to-date information available and obtain the highly accurate results that they require."

To maintain the accuracy of the 2009 Electoral register data they hold, Tracesmart will be refreshing the records on a monthly basis from January with Rolling Register updates – equating to some 150,000 amendments per month.

Making a concerted effort to stamp out Impersonation of the Deceased (IOD) fraud, Tracesmart, leading suppliers of identity verification tools, have this week launched Existence – a new suite of services with the potential to eliminate IOD fraud.

IOD is a form of identity fraud - it is estimated by the Home Office Identity Fraud Steering Committee, that identity fraud costs the UK economy £1.7 billion annually. Whilst IOD fraud has historically been hard to tackle due to the lack of death records being made available, recent changes in legislation have allowed the UK General Register Offices (GRO) to release death registration information (DRI) to commercial bodies with the aim of preventing fraud. It is this move that has enabled Tracesmart to develop their suite of services which will tackle IOD fraud head on.

Combining in-depth mortality screening and residency verification, the service allows users to ascertain whether an individual is alive and if they reside at their given address. Paul Weathersby, Technical Director at Tracesmart, commented on the data which drives these checks.

"The mortality screening element of our Existence services draws upon the GRO’s DRI data and the residency verifier calls upon a variety of consumer datasets including historic Electoral Rolls, leading gone away files and BT OSIS amongst others. The combination of these checks allows us to confidently identify deceased individuals and gone aways."

The Existence suite comprises three services with which clients can conduct existence checks. Existence Search is an online facility which can be used to conduct single ad-hoc checks; Existence Batch is a batch screening service where multiple persons can be verified and the third, and possibly most significant service, is Existence Alert - an early warning system that notifies users of mortalities at the earliest possible opportunity.

Tracesmart has long provided tools for conducting identity checks and has a strong history in the field of fraud prevention. The combination of this experience and access to DRI will enable the Existence services to effectively help put an end to IOD fraud. Mike Trezise, Managing Director at Tracesmart, has already seen a high volume of interest in the product.

"Prior to launch we approached several key clients in the pension and financial sectors to gauge market interest in the product. As we suspected, the demand is most certainly there and we already have prominent pensions administrators and large schemes utilising the system to replace certificate of existence exercises, and many in the financial sector are employing it as part of their know your customer checks. Preventing IOD fraud will save businesses considerable amounts of money and protect consumers from both fiscal and emotional harm."