About URU™

URU is an electronic identity verification service which was developed jointly with BT and is DataAuthentication’s principle offering. URU, which is powered by GB’s ID3™ search engine and decision making technology, provides access to GB’s comprehensive range of identity data and BT’s high capacity web delivery. It helps organisations to protect themselves from the growing problem of identity theft and fraud, which is estimated to cost the UK economy over £1.7 billion per annum. URU enables companies subscribing to the service to make an instant decision whether to accept the identity claimed by any given individual and confirm their age in seconds.

URU works by cross checking personal information provided by an individual at the point of acquisition against a comprehensive range of datasources to confirm that an individual is who they claim to be, live where they claim to live and meet certain minimum legal age requirements.

No personal data is disclosed by the reference databases and as a result URU is compliant with the Data Protection Act.

URU also provides a valuable audit trail demonstrating that the necessary checks have taken place, thereby helping companies comply with legislation, including the 2nd European Money Laundering Directive, Proceeds of Crime Act and Minimum Legal Age requirements of certain industry sectors.

As a result of legislation, new opportunities and social responsibility requirements, the market for electronic ID verification is significant and growing. Although an estimated 0.5 billion manual ID checks are conducted annually in the UK, less than 3% of these are currently performed el.ectronically.

URU has demonstrated that electronic checks are more effective, less expensive and more robust.

The market is moving towards electronic checks as fraudulent documents become ever more sophisticated, more readily available and more difficult to check manually. It is estimated that by 2010, the market for electronic ID checks could be 300 million checks per annum.

GB works closely with trade and industry associations, such as the Finance and Leasing Association, the Remote Gambling Association and the Financial Technology Research Centre, to advise businesses that more robust processes can prevent financial crime. We have worked closely with the Gaming Industry to address social issues such as underage gambling and addiction and our Social Responsibility Consultancy helps Gaming operators formulate best practice to comply with regulatory requirements and improve profitability.

About GB Group plc

GB Group plc provides a range of products and services to enable organisations to capitalise on one of their greatest assets - customer data. The Company has expertise across a range of sectors and is able to transform customer data into valuable information, enabling clients to make better, more informed decisions.

The development of innovative software and services, through to the provision of the UK's most comprehensive consumer business databases - The National Register® and the National Authentication Register - positions GB Group as a widely acknowledged industry leader in its specialist markets.

We are constantly improving business processes by building on our core values of Innovation, Quality and Excellence. This is reflected in our customer satisfaction surveys and also through research, carried out by Manchester Business School, which confirms our products are out performing the competition.

GB Group plc has three complementary offerings:

  • 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 sector knowledge have enabled the company to deliver significant value to organisations such as Standard Life, Scottish Power and TD Waterhouse in helping them derive maximum value from their customer data and sustain real advantage over their competition.

GB Group is supported by its key relationships with major organisations with whom it works with on major initiatives (an example being British Telecom), together with a team of highly talented and motivated staff successfully delivering business solutions.

GB Group plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange.