Editor's Letter

New Year, New Opportunity

The New Year has ushered in additional requirements for financial institutions under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA). For professionals in the information management sector, the newly enacted Red Flag Rules, which implement sections 114 and 315 of FACTA, potentially present a business opportunity.

However, opportunities are seldom free of challenges. In this case, the challenge may lie in determining how information management professionals can best serve their clients in the financial sector as they attempt to understand and comply with the new regulations.

By Nov. 1 of this year, financial institutions must develop, document and implement an "Identity Theft Prevention Program" to safeguard their customers’ personal information. According to the Federal Trade Commission, such a program must include "reasonable policies and procedures for detecting, preventing and mitigating ID theft," allowing financial institutions or creditors to identify patterns, practices and activity that could signal ID theft; detect such red flags; and periodically update the program to reflect changing risks that result from ID theft. (The text of the regulations is available at www.ftc.gov/os/2007/10/r611019redflagsfrn.pdf.)

Many financial industry professionals fear the regulations will complicate their efforts toward FACTA compliance and are unsure of what constitutes compliance in this case.

Information management firms with clients in the financial sector can use this uncertainty to strengthen their business relationships.

By acting as a consultant in the development of their clients’ Identity Theft Prevention Programs and making sure their customers are aware of their new obligations under FACTA’s Red Flag Rules, information management professionals will further solidify the bonds they have formed with their clients and establish themselves as the "go-to" source for information management issues. Small to mid-size clients that lack the financial resources and manpower to tackle this issue on their own likely would be happy to receive such counseling from an already trusted vendor.

I encourage all SDB readers with mobile document destruction operations to fill out a questionnaire that will be used to establish company rankings in our inaugural list of the 20 largest mobile document destruction firms. Please visit www.sdbmagazine.com/news/images/top20sdb.pdf to print out the form. Completed forms can be faxed to my attention at (330) 659-0824 prior to Feb. 20. Your cooperation is appreciated.