Racing Ahead into the Future

Direct Debit Ltd. Launches Unique Customer ID Technology at Royal Ascot
Royal Ascot, June 23, 2006

Launched at a Royal Ascot hospitality day attended by representatives of the major UK Banks, technology provider Direct Debit Limited has taken a major step in reducing identity fraud with a new product - DD-iD™. The service greatly enhances Scheme compliance and automates expensive manual mandatory ID checks, saving businesses and Banks a fortune!

Driven by the major UK Banks, BACS, who run the Direct Debit Scheme, introduced a new measure to drive down fraud and improve scheme compliance in July 2005.This required businesses to verify that customers, who sign up over the phone or Internet, are who they say they are.

For Direct Debit Originators, however, one major hurdle was thrown up by this requirement. In general, such checks required a lengthy paper chase, often mitigating the benefits of speed and simplicity offered by paperless sign-ups.

This issue has now been solved. Direct Debit Limited, a major player in the payments industry and a market leader in Direct Debit technology has come up with an ingenious answer- DD-iD™. - offering Banks and originators the perfect solution.

Gerry Hill, Direct Debit’s Managing Director commented that; DD-iD™ replaces the once costly and lengthy manual ID checks with a simple and incredibly low-cost, accurate online solution.

With one simple and easy online search, originators can use the system to verify any customer’s details in one second, with spectacular cost savings. These benefits are also underscored by the reduction in risk and fraud for both Bank and Originator.”

For more information contact: Patrick Nobbs, Head of Marketing and Communications, Direct Debit Limited. Tel: 020 8408 7888, e-mail: pnobbs@directdebit.com, website: www.directdebit.com