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, 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 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 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."

On Wednesday 29th October, The Financial Services Authority (FSA) fined both Sindicatum Holdings Limited (SHL) and its money laundering reporting officer (MLRO), Michael Wheelhouse, for failing to have adequate systems and controls in place to verify and record client identities.

SHL was fined £49,000 and Mr. Wheelhouse received a fine of £17,500 – this is the first instance of an MLRO being fined by the FSA and sends out a stern warning to all firms and individuals who have anti-money laundering responsibilities.

William Amos, head of retail enforcement at the FSA, commented:

"It is vital to the integrity of the UK’s financial markets that regulated firms are not used by criminals to launder money. Senior management must implement and follow procedures that meet our requirements so that the risks their firms face are properly managed.

"This fine is a warning to firms and individuals about the importance of complying with our rules in this area and we will not hesitate to clamp down on failures, where necessary."

The fines were a result of failings within SHL’s client identity verification procedures. The FSA discovered that the firm failed to have adequate procedures in place to verify client identity, did not adequately verify the identity of a significant number of their clients and also neglected to keep adequate records regarding the verification of its clients. Additionally, Mr Wheelhouse failed to take reasonable steps to put in place adequate procedures for controlling money laundering risk.

Commenting on the unprecedented action taken by the FSA, Michael Trezise, Managing Director at Tracesmart noted:

"By fining the MLRO as well as the company the FSA are sending out a very strong message to those obligated to take preventive measures against money laundering. It is vital that firms and individuals have effective and robust measures in place to identify clients and maintain records as to how this was achieved.

In the months preceding the implementation of the Money Laundering Regulations 2007 we had a huge uptake in our services which indicated to us that many firms are taking their know your customer obligations very seriously. Those that don’t are not only leaving the financial system open to abuse but are also putting themselves in a position which could result in a hefty fine – even prison. When you consider how easy and economical it now is to put adequate measures in place to conduct and record identity checks, it would be extremely unwise for anyone to leave themselves open to such a threat."

To review the official FSA press release, or view the final notices issued to Sindicatum and Michael Wheelhouse, please visit the FSA website (http://www.fsa.gov.uk)

Tracesmart, renowned for helping organisations conduct identity checks for know your customer purposes, have announced that they are preparing to relocate their ID service - Smart ID Plus. The service will now be accessible directly from the company’s principal site Tracesmart Corporate. The relocation signals the beginning of a larger project which aims to centralise all of the company’s current and future online service offerings in order to streamline and improve the customer experience.

Utilised in both anti-money laundering and anti-fraud exercises, the service will lose its Smart ID Plus moniker and simply be known as ID, part of the Tracesmart Corporate range which includes the highly regarded data cleansing service. Users of the ID service will simply log in to the Tracesmart Corporate site where they will be greeted by the new central user interface. As well as access to the ID tool the interface will also provide access to other Tracesmart Corporate services and a variety of other functions including usage history and reports, system user guides and the option to purchase credits for their subscribed services.

Management of the technical changeover is being led by Paul Weathersby, Technical Director for Tracesmart, who has been planning the move for some time "Ensuring that our customers have an efficient and enjoyable experience when using our systems is one of our primary concerns. As such we [Tracesmart’s technical team] have been preparing to centralise our online service suite for some time – porting the ID services across to the Tracesmart Corporate site is the first step in this process. The new interface will be live shortly and months of preparation will ensure a smooth transition with no negative impact on the user experience or service functionality."

The centralisation of Tracesmart’s online service suite will result in a single 'shop front' and access point for users once they are logged in. For example, from this hub Tracesmart clients will be able to trace people one minute, then seamlessly switch to conduct identity checks the next. It is anticipated that having the range of services side-by-side will raise interest in the whole of the Tracesmart range.

Commenting on the future improved and centralised online service suite Mike Trezise, Managing Director at Tracesmart, notes the impact it will have for their customers, "The central service portal will allow for improved customer experience and usability – a core motivation behind the majority of our technical enhancements. All of our online services will be available from this single access point, thus ensuring our customers stay up-to-date with our portfolio and remain fully informed about the services available to them."

Tracesmart, renowned for helping organisations conduct identity checks for know your customer purposes, have announced that they are preparing to relocate their ID service - Smart ID Plus. The service will now be accessible directly from the company's principal site Tracesmart Corporate. The relocation signals the beginning of a larger project which aims to centralise all of the company's current and future online service offerings in order to streamline and improve the customer experience.

Utilised in both anti-money laundering and anti-fraud exercises, the service will lose its Smart ID Plus moniker and simply be known as ID, part of the Tracesmart Corporate range which includes the highly regarded data cleansing service. Users of the ID service will simply log in to the Tracesmart Corporate site where they will be greeted by the new central user interface. As well as access to the ID tool the interface will also provide access to other Tracesmart Corporate services and a variety of other functions including usage history and reports, system user guides and the option to purchase credits for their subscribed services.

Management of the technical changeover is being led by Paul Weathersby, Technical Director for Tracesmart, who has been planning the move for some time “Ensuring that our customers have an efficient and enjoyable experience when using our systems is one of our primary concerns. As such we [Tracesmart's technical team] have been preparing to centralise our online service suite for some time – porting the ID services across to the Tracesmart Corporate site is the first step in this process. The new interface will be live shortly and months of preparation will ensure a smooth transition with no negative impact on the user experience or service functionality.”

The centralisation of Tracesmart's online service suite will result in a single 'shop front' and access point for users once they are logged in. For example, from this hub Tracesmart clients will be able to trace people one minute, then seamlessly switch to conduct identity checks the next. It is anticipated that having the range of services side-by-side will raise interest in the whole of the Tracesmart range.

Commenting on the future improved and centralised online service suite Mike Trezise, Managing Director at Tracesmart, notes the impact it will have for their customers, “The central service portal will allow for improved customer experience and usability – a core motivation behind the majority of our technical enhancements. All of our online services will be available from this single access point, thus ensuring our customers stay up-to-date with our portfolio and remain fully informed about the services available to them.”

Tracesmart, renowned for providing online people tracing, anti-money-laundering and know your customer (KYC) services, has recently received major interest from the national press. Having entered the South West England and Wales regional heat of the Bank of Scotland Corporate Entrepreneur Challenge, the story of Tracesmart's Managing Director and founder, Mike Trezise, caught the attention of the Sunday Times.

The Bank of Scotland Corporate Entrepreneur Challenge is comprised of several regional heats and receives entries from all over Great Britain. Each regional winner will receive the prize of a loan up to the value of £5 million interest free and be eligible for entry into the national final in which they could win the coveted title of "Bank of Scotland Corporate Entrepreneur of the Year".

Of the approximate 160 regional entrants, Trezise was highly received – this standing and his company's inimitable suite of services consequently caught the attention of the Sunday Times and resulted in an article highlighting Trezise's success being published. Speaking from the company's Cardiff Bay headquarters, Tracesmart's Communications Manager, Owen Roberts, commented, "Whilst Mike did not rank quite as high as we would have liked, the resulting press coverage has been great – we have received many calls from companies interested in our services. This is an exciting time for Tracesmart as we are currently experiencing rapid growth and coverage in the national press is helping to fuel our momentum further."

Entitled "On the right track" the article, published on the 12 October, depicted Trezise's career up to the formation of Tracesmart in 2004, it also highlighted how the rise in interest surrounding the use of online services designed to trace people has helped the company to flourish. Discussing the current high levels of interest in people tracing Trezise commented, "I know from my own professional experience that tracing is somewhat of a niche business, yet the demand has increased exponentially since I was a tracer – the current economic climate where companies are keen to reunite individuals with unclaimed assets or trace debtors has spurned this growth."

The Sunday Times feature also identified the wide spectrum of industries that Tracesmart currently service, a list which includes banks, universities, solicitors, accountants and estate agents amongst others; demonstrating the wide range of cross-industry applications that their portfolio of tracing, data cleansing and id verification services hold.

Historically no single organisation was responsible for assembling all UK telephone numbers as although BT was the main source of telephone number information, they did not hold other telecommunication companies telephone numbers. As such in 1999 a subdivision of BT, The Directory Solutions Unit (DSU) was formed to act as an independent body with their prime duty being to collate telephone number information from several sources, including BT, Cable Companies and Mobile Phone providers. Today the DSU administer OSIS and provide licensees with a daily file containing between 30,000-100,000 added, deleted or amended UK telephone numbers.

The daily supply of data from OSIS means Tracesmart's Customers will see a further increase in system performance as Paul Weathersby, Technical Director at Tracesmart, explains "Following a comprehensive data security audit, where we thoroughly demonstrated how extremely stalwart and resilient our in-house data protection measures are, we have now been granted direct access to the OSIS data. Previously we relied on a third party supplier for the data but now that we have it in house our customers can conduct faster telephone look ups and the system as a whole runs more efficiently."

Obtaining accurate telephone numbers is an essential part of any form of tracing, whether it be an asset reunification project aiming to reunite unclaimed assets with their rightful owner or an exercise to locate absconded debtors; having instant access to the relevant telephone number allows the tracer to facilitate instant contact. Telephone numbers are supplied via the company's tracing, identity verification and data cleansing services.

Maximising performance is a key part of Tracesmart's commitment to its client base as Mike Trezise, Managing Director of Tracesmart, commented, "I know firsthand how utilising accurate data is paramount for success and as such Tracesmart constantly aims to supply its customers with accurate, instantly accessible data in order to ensure they get the results they need. As a company we are committed to constantly upgrading and improving our service offerings and new data acquisition is a key part of this process – we will always strive to enhance the customer experience through the provision of comprehensive data."

The Home Office estimate that identity fraud currently costs the UK economy over £1.7 billion a year, so to help tackle this ever growing crime recent legislation includes provisions to combat IOD fraud. Under the Police and Justice Act 2006 and the Local Electoral Administration and Registrations Services (Scotland) Act 2006 the Registrars General for England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have been granted the power to release DRI to assist in the ‘prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of offences’. In light of this the DDRI scheme was launched on 16th January 2008 to support the fight against IOD fraud. Administered on behalf of the three Registrars General by the GRO for England & Wales, the DDRI scheme provides successful applicants with an electronic file of deaths registered in the UK on a weekly basis – this will ensure that fraudsters can be quickly identified and dealt with before they can do any fiscal or emotional damage.

Tracesmart will be utilising the DRI in their electronic identity verification and mortality screening services, which are employed by a host of different industries as Michael Trezise, Managing Director of Tracesmart, explains, “The majority of businesses can be affected by impersonation of the deceased fraud and as such we provide a variety of services which allow companies to protect themselves and consumers from this threat. Being the first company to be approved by the GRO demonstrates to our customers that we are, and will remain, in the vanguard of fraud prevention to ensure that they are offered the highest level of protection available.”

Prior to being approved by the GRO, Tracesmart had to fulfil a variety of stringent prerequisites and underwent a full security audit of their site and storage systems. The GRO implemented these measures to ensure that the DRI is only accessed by appropriate persons and organisations for the purposes prescribed by law. The release of DRI is also welcomed by the UK’s fraud prevention service – CIFAS – as their Head of Communications, Kate Beddington-Brown notes, “IOD fraud is unspeakably cruel, adding immeasurably to the grief of bereaved individuals at the worst possible time. The emotional harm and financial strain that it can add to the sadness of bereavement is unimaginable. Having campaigned for years for reform that would put an end to IOD fraud, CIFAS was delighted when the Registrars General responded to the problem by working together to provide a practicable solution. Now that their hard work is finally coming to fruition, we welcome this announcement and are confident that this will help to stamp out IOD fraud once and for all.”

Tracesmart, premier providers of consumer tracing, data cleansing and identity verification tools, have announced that on 1st September 2008, Chris Rothwell was appointed the role of Sales Director. This follows on from a record year of sales for the Cardiff based company, in which Rothwell played a pivotal part.

Having worked for Tracesmart for nearly six years, Rothwell has headed up both the Trace and Sales teams – roles which he has flourished in. Prior to joining Tracesmart, Rothwell worked in a variety of positions including credit card fraud analysis for HBOS card services, the experience of which has served both him and the company well as one of Rothwell’s key roles is the development and sale of Tracesmart’s electronic identity verification tool - Smart ID Plus. Utilised in both know your customer and anti-money laundering exercises, Smart ID Plus has gone from strength to strength with his guidance and knowledge.

Rothwell also has a strong understanding of another of Tracesmart’s primary markets – the debt collection industry. His time as head of the tracing team gave him a huge insight into the industry and when he transferred to the sales department this knowledge helped the company to make huge strides in the collections arena and establish themselves as market leaders.

Commenting on his promotion and future plans Rothwell noted, "I am honoured to take on the role of Sales Director at Tracesmart and my initial goal will be to expand our sales team. During the last fiscal year we have seen an unprecedented rise in demand for our services – especially in the financial sector where banks and building societies are looking to initiate asset reunification campaigns in order to reunite lost customers with their unclaimed assets. In my new position I aim to ensure that the company continues to enjoy the exceptional growth we have experienced over the last year."

As a result of his new appointment, Rothwell now finds both business strategy and data purchase fall under his jurisdiction. He is also responsible for ensuring the company’s services continue to meet the high standards clients have come to expect.

Discussing Rothwell’s promotion, Mike Trezise, Managing Director at Tracesmart, highlights the reason for the appointment, "Chris has worked tirelessly to drive the company forward and increase our exposure in a range of different markets; whilst he was Sales Manager the company witnessed record sales and a large increase in annual profit. It is because of this performance that I am more than happy to entrust Chris with the responsibility of Sales Director – I know that he will ensure our forthcoming financial year is even more rewarding than the last."

The company has doubled its staff size in the last year - each of Tracesmart's departments has recruited new staff as the influx of service requisitions has increased and as such the company has had to expand its premises. Demand for the company's range of services has dramatically increased turnover and Tracesmart corporate project growth in the region of 50%.

Explaining the projected increase in turnover, Michael Trezise, Managing Director for Tracesmart, commented, "Thanks to the efforts of all staff and continuous development of our services, we have experienced a great deal of success in the ID verification sector with our Smart ID Plus anti-money laundering service performing strongly in legal and financial markets. We have also secured significant unclaimed assets contracts which have proved fruitful – not only in monetary value but also from a promotional perspective as we have received a high volume of exposure in the national press and online. Whilst we look set to smash last year's growth we are already firmly focusing on the forthcoming financial year, with the intention of setting another record."

Turnover and company size are not the only areas of growth Tracesmart have experienced over the last year – they have increased the number of records they hold through heavy investment in large amounts of fresh data. This new data has prompted the development of new services which have allowed increased penetration into multiple markets. Commenting on these developments Paul Weathersby, Tracesmart's Technical Director, noted, "Myself and my team have worked hard over the last year to improve and build upon our service offering. We have also further developed our internal systems for ease of use and to improve efficiency. Together these changes have allowed us to stay ahead of our competitors by offering superior service delivery to our customers."

Confirmed figures will be announced in early September, following the end of Tracesmart's financial year.

Tracesmart's diverse suite of services benefits clients from a wide spectrum of industries – such as those looking to reunite unclaimed assets or conduct debtor tracing campaigns. With this diversity in mind, Tracesmart are attending exhibitions relevant to the pensions, debt collections, consumer finance, alumni development, banking and legal sectors. This wide selection of events will see Tracesmart's exhibition team travelling the length and breadth of the country over the next five months as locations include London, Glasgow, Birmingham, Northern England and even the Houses of Parliament.

Tracesmart has a select team they rely on as brand ambassadors at the various trade shows, exhibitions and conferences they attend – chief amongst these is Adam Smith, Tracesmart's Marketing Manager. Smith commented, "The exhibitions are a key part of my promotional plans for the company. Historically speaking, they have always been a great business and brand development vehicle for us and have helped secure us many new and often very lucrative contracts – it is because of this success that I have increased our exhibition presence this year and why I am constantly looking for new and exciting exhibition opportunities."

Smith and his fellow exhibitors are diversifying the methods they use to convey the company message at numerous events this year. CCR-i (Credit, Collections & Risk – Interactive) will see them hosting the lunch and conducting a quiz, and their presence at the CASE (Council for Advancement and Support of Education) Europe Annual Conference will be considerable. As well as being Platinum Sponsors and hosting a post-show drinks reception, Smith will be presenting on how those working in alumni relations can trace people, cleanse their database and profile potentially large donors to aid with philanthropic campaigns.

Another of Tracesmart's key protagonists, Chris Rothwell, Sales Manager, will also be in regular attendance at the events to promote Tracesmart's services. Rothwell commented on how exhibition attendance has a range of benefits, "Exhibitions are not only great for developing new leads, but also meeting with existing clients and developing industry knowledge. Whether we have been promoting our anti-money laundering services or tracing tools, I always return from exhibitions brimming with ideas on how we can refine our services and further assist our customers."

The considerable increase in demand for Tracesmart’s asset reunification services is partly due to the movement of the Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Bill through parliament. The Bill, which is awaiting a second reading in the House of Commons, was devised to put in place an unclaimed assets scheme for the UK; such as scheme would see dormant assets reinvested into projects to benefit the community. Prior to such a scheme being realised, financial institutions are being encouraged to embark on pro-active asset reunification programs, which require the professional services of companies such as Tracesmart. The new tracing case management system will allow their in-depth tracing agents to manage their cases more efficiently and most importantly – trace people and reunite assets quicker. This in turn will ensure that Tracesmart’s clients enjoy the highest standard of results, in the quickest possible time.

This focus on customer service is also reflected in certain aspects of the new system as Paul Weathersby, Technical Director for Tracesmart Ltd, and Tracesmart’s in-house technical team have also integrated invoicing into the system to ensure accuracy in all outgoing invoices and quotes. Commenting on additional functionality, Weathersby noted, “The new tracing case management system allows our staff involved with asset reunification exercises to upload batch data, which could be thousands of cases, as well as any other pertinent files and notes onto the system. The upload process is quick and accessible and it means everything our in-depth tracers require to trace people is at their fingertips.” Apart from helping increase staff productivity the new electronic system is also more secure, and paper free – which means Tracesmart’s resources are not wasted and the tracing case management process is environmentally friendly.

Tracesmart’s team of in-depth tracers are led by Michael Thraves, Tracing Manager, and the new tracing case management system allows him to ensure that he gets the most out of his team, “The system provides me with more detailed statistical data than I previously had access to, this in turn allows me to monitor my staff’s performance incredibly effectively and provides me with more control over productivity levels. The new case management system also helps my team and I to deliver a higher standard of customer service – any enquiries relating to a particular trace can be dealt with exceedingly swiftly.” comments Thraves.

Tracesmart Ltd, specialist tracing agents and providers of web based tracing and identity check services, have announced that they are installing a service backup facility in their Cardiff offices. A failsafe for their online services*, which allow users to trace people and verify identity, the system will ensure that in the highly unlikely event their London based data centre experiences technical problems, site traffic will be handled via Cardiff. In readiness for the installation, Tracesmart have considerably enhanced onsite security measures and installed a new internet connection.

To handle the high volume of traffic the Tracesmart Corporate web services receive, the company has invested in a high-speed and robust dedicated internet connection. Paul Weathersby, Technical Director at Tracesmart comments on the move "To support the new backup facility, it was necessary to install a 10mbps internet connection. The connection uses fibre optic cables, facilitating a fast data transfer rate which ensures that high volumes of traffic can be managed without impeding system quality and usage.” The new connection will also allow Tracesmart to base several off their offline services in their headquarters, as noted by Weathersby, "Through the combination of the backup facility and the high-speed connection, we will also be able to provide our data cleansing and marketing list services directly from our Cardiff HQ, as opposed to our London data centre"

Ahead of the backup data centre going live, Weathersby and his team have increased onsite security measures and made certain all activity within the office is monitored constantly, down to the last keystroke. In addition to these measures, several areas within their Cardiff headquarters are now restricted to top level personnel only.

The government-sponsored organisation set up to investigate dormant accounts, The Commission on Unclaimed Assets, recommended that financial institutions use more pro-active means to locate their missing customers. Consequently, Lloyds TSB is one of the first institutions to assume responsibility, and has adopted the most comprehensive positive measure of any UK bank or building society to yield the highest reunification success rate.

Helen Weir, Group Executive Director, UK Retail Banking at Lloyds TSB recently said; “These accounts have long been forgotten and our aim is to reunite as many customers as possible with their money. As customers change address, open multiple accounts and their circumstances change, it’s surprisingly easy for them to lose track. This is why we have taken action and appointed, specialist search agency, Tracesmart Corporate to help us locate the rightful owners.”

Assets go missing in a number of ways; account holders lose track of accounts due to a change of address and fail to notify the bank or financial institution, other assets are ‘lost’ due to the death of investors who leave little hint of the benefit. In his Pre-Budget Report of 2005, the then chancellor Gordon Brown defined a dormant account as one “where there has been no customer activity for a period of 15 years”.

Amazingly, 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. The estimate for all dormant products in National Savings alone is an astonishing £1.8 billion, £933 million of which has been dormant for 15 years or more.

Managing Director, Michael Trezise commented, “Lloyds TSB is to be applauded for pro-actively reuniting lost customers to their unclaimed assets. We are of course delighted to have won the competitive bid for this asset reunification project. It has, no doubt, reinforced our claim to be the UK’s leading tracing agency owing to our highly skilled team of trace researchers and our unique multi-tiered search solutions. Tracesmart’s continued investment in cutting edge technology is now reaping significant rewards and we look forward to working with Lloyds TSB to track down their 120,000 missing or ‘gone away’ customers.”

The Institute of Credit Managment (ICM) are offering excellent benefits to their members in 2008, namely the opportubity to trial industry leading Tracesmart Corporate and their extensive consumer data solutions.

Announced in June's issue of Credit Management magazine, Tracesmart Corporate are offering members of the Institute of Credit Management (ICM) a series of benefits throughout 2008. The benefits will allow members of the ICM the opportunity to trial Tracesmart Corporate services and receive a range of discounts.

The first of the series enables ICM members to test-drive the company's online debtor tracing tool, which is also known as Tracesmart Corporate. Michael Trezise, Managing Director, elaborates on the offer "The ability to trace people quickly and simply is key within the credit industry - especially the collections sector. We know that Tracesmart Corporate is one of the most effective ways to complete this task - it is already the choice of many tracing agents up and down the country - and by offering ICM members the opportunity to trial it for free we hope to demonstrate this to the industry as a whole."

Tracesmart Corporate will be continuing the series by offering ICM members the opportunity to trial a number of other services in their range, "Whilst the provision of our online tracing tool is what we are best known for in the credit industry, it is only one of the many services in our portfolio. We provide both a data cleansing solution, which was developed with credit industry in mind, and an online system for conducting identity checks. Following discussions with the ICM, both parties agreed that these would also be services that could benefit ICM members and will be featured in future benefits." Trezise explained.

Commenting for the ICM, Director General Philip King noted "We are always looking at ways to add value to membership, and negotiating benefits with key companies in the credit industry is an important way of doing this. The series of benefits being offered by Tracesmart Corporate is an important addition to our membership package, and we look forward to working with them in the future."

In addition to discussing how conducting an alumni search can benefit educational institutions, Smith will also be conveying the advantages of data cleansing and data enrichment, "A successful fundraising campaign should employ data cleansing prior to commencement; this process not only ensures that the contact details held are correct but will also highlight gone aways, allowing the institute to identify and, subsequently, trace those who have moved. In addition to data cleansing, it is advisable to profile each and every member by wealth and socio-demographics – this can highlight potentially large donors, allowing the University to conduct highly targeted communications."

Commenting on their own portfolio of services, Mike Trezise, Managing Director at Tracesmart, noted "We have developed a suite of bespoke services specifically for Universities, to assist them in re-locating and profiling their alumni. Already employed by many institutes throughout the UK, our solutions have been used to relocate alumni members for reunions and to support philanthropic fundraising campaigns. The imminent introduction of the state driven, matched funding scheme makes this the ideal time for Universities to reconnect with their gone aways." The matched funding scheme for voluntary giving, referred to by Trezise, starts on 1 August 2008 and runs for three years. £200 million of funding is available to match eligible gifts raised by all English higher education institutions (HEIs) and directly funded further education colleges (FECs). Trezise further commented, "It is imperative that institutions proactively trace people in their alumni database who they have lost contact with, as it will broaden their support base and could considerably assist in developing the University as a whole."

In addition to presenting at the conference, Tracesmart have a prominent role at the event as a whole. As well as being platinum sponsors, supporting a keynote speaker and exhibiting, they are also hosting a drinks reception on Wednesday the 27th August for delegates of the conference.

"My team has poured extensive time and energies into this project to ensure that our users can extract the information they need quickly and simply. A key part of the usability is the internal navigation; intuitive menu layout, a breadcrumb trail and link rich copy combine to make sure that wherever a client is on the site, for example the visitor could be on the page detailing the data cleansing, and if they wish, they will easily be able to navigate to any other given location such as the identity checks page." comments Technical Director, Paul Weathersby. "One of the primary purposes of this new site is to provide a central point for our clients and visitors to glean information relevant to their particular needs. This is why that in addition to all of the technical input our IT specialists have had, our research and marketing teams have spent a considerable amount of time sourcing and collating an assortment of information to provide in-depth industry knowledge, as well as easily digestible facts on our own key products and services."

Continuing on the theme of usability, Tracesmart Corporate have incorporated a colour coding system into the site which highlights their key services, this, in turn, enables users to easily identify which section they are in at any given time. The core services are coloured thusly: TRACE - red, CLEANSE - Blue, DATA - green and ID – purple, with all information relating to specific industries such as asset reunification depicted in silver. They have also taken the time to ensure that site production adhered to all web development best practice standards, in order to guarantee their new site is of the highest quality.

The launch of the new site also provided a chance to firmly cement the recent changes to the Tracesmart Corporate brand, as Adam Smith, Marketing Manager notes; "Whilst usability and functionality have been key drivers behind the development of the new version of Tracesmart Corporate, it has also been an opportunity to re-focus and re-define our Corporate division and brand. The site aesthetics and clear classification of services reflect the fundamentals of Tracesmart Corporate – clear, precise and functional. When potential clients visit the site for the first time they will be able to gain a clear understanding of who we are and what we do, and for returning clients we hope it echoes what they already know."

The new office space will fulfil a variety of functions. As well as offering offices for their expanding Trace and Sales teams, the space will also incorporate a back-up data centre facility. "By being able to have a new back up centre on site, we will be able to provide a higher level of reliability to our customers. This is something we have been striving for, and thanks to the current wave of success the company is riding, we now have the means with which to do it. This expansion will not only effect us directly as a company, but with the space to expand and develop our products and services, our clients will also reap the benefits." Explains Technical Director Paul Weathersby.

The considerable expansion in the tracing agents and sales teams is due to the outstanding growth in business over the past couple of years. After the successful completion of some very high profile asset reunification projects and the imminent arrival of unclaimed assets legislation, the in-house trace team are expanding to cope with the growing demand for their highly specialised skills. This growth is in addition to their rapidly expanding sales and CRM team, which will ensure that Tracesmart Corporate maintains strong client relations as well as managing the large volume of new leads they are currently experiencing.

"Our expansion into the new offices is a testament to all the hard work put in by our staff over the years. I hope that the new offices and influx of new staff will renew our vigour and boost our determination to maintain a leading position in the industries we supply." Comments Michael Trezise, Managing Director.

The addition of this data to their unrivalled consumer universe, takes the total number of unique records in their database to a staggering 73.3 million - this newly acquired shareholder information is just one of many data acquisition projects.

Users of Tracesmart Corporate products and services will derive many benefits from these valuable records. The volume and accuracy of this new data will facilitate higher positive result rates when conducting activities such as debtor tracing. Tracesmart Corporates’ data cleansing service will also be considerably enhanced – the shareholder information includes 4.7m middle names, which will allow for many more records to be appended during the cleansing process.

"As a company we continuously find ways to increase the size and diversity of our already extensive dataset collection. We constantly strive to improve the accuracy of our market leading Trace, Cleanse and ID solutions in order to retain our position at the vanguard of our industry. I believe that the addition of this fresh data demonstrates our commitment to this.” comments Michael John Trezise, Managing Director.

We will be attending the following events:

If you too will be in attendance at any of these events, be sure to stop by the stand for a live demonstration or for a chat with our sales team. They will be able to answer any questions you have regarding our products and services and show you all the latest developments.

So that you can keep abreast of where we will be exhibiting for the rest of the year we have set up an events calendar to keep you informed of all dates, locations and the products we will be exhibiting. We look forward to seeing you at a range of industry events soon.