Location Labs’ Universal Location Service used in PinPoint personal fraud protection technology from Finsphere
San Francisco, Calif. and Bellevue, Wash.– October 12, 2010 – Location Labs, the leader in providing mobile location-based services, is proud to announce that Finsphere, an industry leader in identity validation and fraud detection, recently launched its first, opt-in consumer fraud protection product using Location Labs’ Universal Location Service (ULS). Finsphere’s new PinPoint product offers one of the most advanced ways to fight identity theft and validate consumer identity, and uses Location Labs’ ULS technology to access network based location information.
Using Finsphere’s proprietary Mobile Identity Protection (M.I.P.) platform, PinPoint can help detect high risk transactions. A key element of this detection involves correlating the location of the transaction with the location of the end user’s cell phone at the time of the transaction. PinPoint leverages Location Labs’ ULS to remotely access and verify cell phone locations anywhere in the U.S., a crucial component to the fraud detection equation.
“Location Labs’ Universal Location Service is truly critical in determining user location on a service like ours,” said Mike Buhrmann, CEO and co-founder of Finsphere. “The ULS platform, coupled with cross-carrier relationships enables us to quickly and seamlessly access cell phone locations of PinPoint subscribers across all major carriers, making fraud prevention accessible to consumers anywhere in the U.S. market.”
Location Labs has relationships with all major U.S. wireless carriers and the ability to locate over 250MM mobile phones remotely, through a single cloud-based API. This unprecedented, cross-carrier access means Finsphere can locate virtually any phone where a customer has opted into the PinPoint service, including both smartphones and basic feature phones, without requiring an app download. This level of location information helps Finsphere detect and prevent fraud by providing verifiable location information sourced from carrier networks– no matter who the service provider is, or the type of phone used.
We are delighted to be working with Finsphere to enable this groundbreaking service,” said Tasso Roumeliotis, CEO, Location Labs. “PinPoint is at the intersection of wireless use and identity protection and we are excited to see our ULS being used to validate location in such a unique and compelling marketplace.”
PinPoint offers expert, daily defense for a consumer’s most important credit or debit cards. For more information or to sign up for PinPoint, please visit: http://www.pinpoint-fraud.com.
The Universal Location Service is also commercially available to developers. To get started building location-based apps immediately, visit the Location Labs developer portal: http://developer.location-labs.com.
About Finsphere
Based in Bellevue, Washington, Finsphere is a company founded on the vision that a mobile phone may be used to identify its owner. The company developed the Mobile Identity Protection (M.I.P.) platform and offers a suite of products that include enterprise card issuer authentication suites, wholesale fraud detection, account monitoring products for financial institutions and PinPoint, a personal fraud protection service. For more information on the company and its products, visit: www.finsphere.com
About Location Labs
Location Labs is the leader in Location-as-a-Service for application developers. The company’s location based services platform helps developers leverage location information to create intelligent, location aware applications. The company’s Platform supports over 250MM mobile phones on the market today, including both smartphones and non-smartphones. Location Labs has strategic partnerships with AT&T, Sprint-Nextel, TMobile, Verizon, Qualcomm, Intel, as well as a number of other global partners. Location Labs was formerly operating as WaveMarket, Inc. The company has raised $26MM in venture financing, from Draper Fisher Jurvetson, BlueRun Ventures (formerly Nokia Venture Partners), QUALCOMM Ventures, Intel Capital, British Telecom and Mitsui Ventures. For more information on the company and its products, visit: www.location-labs.com