Gb Group Regulatory News (GBG)

1 Oct 2007 10:53

GB Group PLC01 October 2007 1st October 2007 GB GROUP PLC ("GB" or the "Group") Further Client Agreements in Online Gaming and Mobile Telecommunications Sectors GB today announces that Ladbrokes and William Hill have become clients of itselectronic verification solutions - URU and ID3-Check. The addition of these twoleading gaming operators to GB's client base means that GB now provideselectronic verification solutions to all of the top ten Online gaming businessesglobally as defined by the Power 50 index of Online Gaming companies (Note 1). Additionally, in the Telecoms sector, Blyk (www.blyk.com) has announced that ithas selected GB's (www.gb.co.uk/news/blyk) URU and ID3-Check as its chosen ageand identity verification solutions for its revolutionary new service, the firstad-funded mobile network in Europe which links young people up with brands theylike and gives free text messages and minutes every month. Richard Law, GB's Chief Executive, commented: "These recent business successes for GB's electronic age and identity solutionsin both the Online Gaming and Telecoms sectors increase our leading position inthese markets. More importantly, they illustrate the continued move byorganisations away from paper-based methods of verification to more efficientand effective electronic solutions. This is evident across all sectors includingFinancial Services." Note 1: The Power 50 (2007) index of Online Gaming Operators is an index of theleading global Online Gaming companies. The index is compiled annually andpublished by eGaming review (www.egrmagazine.com), a leading publication for theOnline Gaming industry. - Ends - For further information, please contact: GB Group plcRichard Law, Chief Executive 01244 657333Mona Navin-Mealey, Finance Director Weber Shandwick Financial 020 7067 0700Richard Hews Website www.gb.co.uk Notes to Editors About GB Group plc GB Group plc provides a range of products and services to enable organisationsto capitalise on their greatest asset - their customers. GB has expertise acrossa range of sectors and is able to transform customer data into valuableinformation, enabling clients to truly fulfil the strategic objective of "knowyour customer" and in doing so make better, more informed decisions. We are constantly improving our products and services by applying our corevalues of Innovation, Quality and Excellence. This has been demonstrated overthe course of the last year by the launch of ID3-Check(TM), GB's internationalidentity verification service and by the launch in January 2007 by DataIntegrityof online services which replace the periodic supply of data on disk to the realtime availability of data via a web-based delivery solution. Know Your Customer ("KYC") Many people will be aware that there is a regulatory requirement in theFinancial Services sector for organisations to "Know Your Customer". We believethat knowing your customer is fundamental to all businesses, not just those infinancial services, and GB has three complimentary offerings enabling ourclients to achieve that. These are • DataAuthentication helps businesses validate personal identity information and provides anti-fraud solutions to fight crime. • DataIntegrity helps companies capture and maintain accurate customer contact data, an essential foundation for any profitable customer relationship. • DataSolutions empowers companies to consolidate and analyse customer data from various sources, enabling them to make better, more informed decisions. Established since 1989, GB's core competencies combined with industry sectorknowledge have enabled the company to deliver significant value to organisationssuch as DSG International, Scottish Power and Lloyds TSB in helping them derivemaximum value from their customer relationships and sustain real advantage overtheir competition. GB Group is supported by its key relationships with major organisations withwhich it works on major initiatives (an example being British Telecom), togetherwith a team of highly talented and motivated staff successfully deliveringbusiness solutions. GB Group plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange (www.gb.co.uk). DataAuthentication, GB's fastest growing business area, specializes inelectronic age and identity verification through its URUTM and ID3-CheckTMsolutions. About URUTM and ID3-Check URU is an online identity verification solution which was developed jointly withBT and is DataAuthentication's principle offering. URU, which is powered by GB'sID3TM search engine and decision making technology, provides access to GB'scomprehensive range of identity data and BT's high capacity web delivery. Ithelps organisations to protect themselves from the growing problem of identitytheft and fraud, which is estimated to cost the UK economy over £1.7 billion perannum. URU enables companies subscribing to the service to make an instantdecision whether to accept the identity claimed by any given individual andconfirm their age in seconds. As a result of legislation, new opportunities and social responsibilityrequirements, the market for online ID verification is significant and growing.Although an estimated 0.5 billion manual ID checks are conducted annually in theUK, less than 6%* of these are currently performed electronically.(* figures as at November 2006) Earlier this year, GB launched its ID3-Check solution which is an internationalonline identity verification service developed by GB's DataAuthenticationbusiness. GB's identity solutions can now verify 800 million individuals in 26 countriesmaking GB's ID verification solution the most comprehensive in the market. It istherefore appropriate that GB are the main sponsor of the first European Summiton Identity (www.identity-matters.co.uk) to be held in London from 20-21November 2007. This summit is an industry event and demonstrates how the wholeissue of identity theft and fraud has increased whilst the value of identitycapital and its protection to both the consumer to businesses has becomeincreasingly important. URU and ID3-Check have demonstrated that online checks are more effective, lessexpensive and more robust. GB works closely with trade and industry associations, such as the Finance andLeasing Association, the Remote Gambling Association and the FinancialTechnology Research Centre, to advise businesses that more robust processes canprevent financial crime. We have worked closely with the Gaming Industry toaddress social issues such as underage gambling and addiction and our SocialResponsibility Consultancy helps Gaming operators formulate best practice tocomply with regulatory requirements and improve profitability. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange