Trans Union’s RocketBridge Verifies Online Identities

RocketBridge, a consumer identity verification service from Trans Union LLC, Chicago, will launch April 10.

The company’s suite of products allows online merchants to confirm consumer identities before completing online transactions. Marketers have their choice of several levels of sensitivity, ranging from extremely high where medical or financial records are involved, and somewhat less stringent, in the cases of age-sensitive Web sites.

The service ties into Trans Unions credit reports, allowing RocketBridge to verify personally identifiable data such as social security number or date of birth. To cut down the risk of identity fraud, “out of wallet” questions such as the organization holding a consumer’s mortgage or auto lease can be used as identifier data, preventing some transactions from being completed if a consumer’s wallet is stolen.

Consumers enter their information in a pop-up window that appears on the marker’s site. While the message within the window can be tailored by the marketer, it clearly states that any information shared is between RocketBridge and the consumer, and is not turned over to the marketer.

Installation of the service averages around $15,000, with per-request transaction fees ranging between $1.25 and $3, depending on the transaction volume.

RocketBridge is currently being used by AT&T’s ACES program, a U.S. government information and services site, and SinglesClick, an online dating service.

Jan Davis, a Trans Union executive vice president who was named president of RocketBridge in late March, said that the new entity will eventually be spun off, and that private equity financing was a possibility.

Concurrently, RocketBridge’s parent company Trans Union has signed an agreement with Korea Information Services. Under the terms of the agreement, Trans Union will facilitate the Seoul-based credit rating agency and consumer information provider’s efforts to offer credit bureau services.

The alliance will allow Korea Information Services to initiate “positive data-based” credit information. The company’s system currently reports only “negative” information.

Korea Information Services currently services 13,000 customers.