Equifax & GBG expand fraud partnership to US market

Equifax and GBG have expanded their partnership to the United States, widening their identity and fraud work in other markets as well.

Under the arrangement, Equifax identity and fraud products will be integrated into GBG Go, the UK company's adaptive identity platform. The change will give GBG customers broader access to Equifax data for identity verification and fraud checks.

The agreement extends a relationship that has lasted nearly a decade. It also adds a reciprocal element, with Equifax set to use GBG's data verification tools in the US before a wider international rollout.

Fraud prevention has become a growing priority for financial services groups, retailers and other businesses as online account opening and digital transactions increase. Equifax and GBG highlighted synthetic identity fraud as a concern, citing an estimate that losses from that form of fraud alone could reach at least USD 23 billion by 2030.

Equifax says it holds trust and fraud signals drawn from more than 60 billion consumer interactions. Those datasets will feed into GBG Go, which organisations use to verify customers and screen for fraud risks during onboarding and other account activity.

The combination is intended to improve identity resolution and help businesses detect fraud patterns, including synthetic identity fraud, credit ghosting and first-party fraud. It should also help firms recognise legitimate customers more quickly through real-time identity proofing.

US expansion

The addition of the United States marks a notable step in the commercial relationship between the Atlanta-based data company and the London-listed identity technology provider. GBG has already been using Equifax data in several international markets, and the broader agreement now brings that model to the US.

For Equifax, the partnership also provides access to GBG's address and location verification data. That will support its efforts to verify addresses and locations in real time in the US, with broader global use to follow.

The tie-up reflects a wider push across the fraud and identity sector to combine more data sources as fraud techniques become harder to detect. Businesses are trying to reduce false positives while still blocking suspicious applications, a balance that can directly affect customer acquisition and losses.

Mark W. Begor, Chief Executive Officer of Equifax, described the deal as an extension of long-running co-operation between the two companies.

"Equifax and GBG have collaborated for nearly a decade and share a strong commitment to providing global organisations with the robust, data-driven defenses required to address digital and AI-based fraud," Begor said.

"Equifax maintains proprietary trust and fraud signals from more than 60 billion consumer interactions – powerful, unique data that differentiates our AI-driven identity and fraud solutions in the industry. The expanded partnership empowers even more businesses to benefit from a powerful combination of proprietary data and world-class identity and fraud technology," he added.

Broader market

GBG serves more than 20,000 customers globally, according to the company, and has built its business around identity and location checks for regulated and high-risk sectors. Equifax, which employs nearly 15,000 people worldwide, operates or has investments in 24 countries.

The agreement brings together two groups with overlapping interests in fraud prevention, customer onboarding and verification of personal details. In practice, businesses using the platform may be able to draw on more data when a customer opens an account, applies for credit or changes key account information.

Dev Dhiman, Chief Executive Officer of GBG, said the fraud environment was shifting quickly and driving demand for more data-led tools.

"The identity and fraud landscape is changing rapidly, and businesses need data-driven solutions that enable both trust and growth," Dhiman said.

"Together with Equifax, we're helping global organisations respond to increasingly sophisticated fraud while scaling confidently. We're already successfully leveraging Equifax proprietary data to power faster, more accurate identity verification in key markets across the globe – and this expansion allows us to bring those proven capabilities, together with robust fraud protection, to the US market," he added.