Take the Risk Out of Debit Cards
Sarah Romanowski, Ride Share Systems LLC, DBA Dollar Rent A Car; Dollar licensee
Accurint is an identification verification service we use in conjunction with debit card transactions. We have found that running a credit check intimidates renters. Accurint, a service from Lexis Nexus, verifies identity, not credit; therefore it does not affect customers' credit.
Accurint verifies public records to match driver's licenses' addresses and home phone number given to the issuing bank of the debit card. This system also provides asset verification, driver's license searches in some states, skip trace searches for missing cars and it will even locate neighbors and relatives.
The format is pay per search, with a minimum monthly charge of $250 per account. There are two search levels: Instant ID costs $0.45; Fraud Defender with the Instant ID costs $0.90. The program scores each applicant for predicted veracity of information on a scale of 0 to 50.
We run the lower cost search on every debit card. If we get a marginal passing score (20 or above) and still feel uncomfortable with the renter, we run the costlier fraud check.
From September 2009 to March 2010 in our six locations we kept our search costs to $200 - $300 per month, per location. As rentals increase in the summer we expect to pay $400 per month. These costs equal the cost of one rental that has lost 10 days of time and mileage. Using Accurint, we have cut our outstanding debit card receivables by 65 percent. It has also helped reduce accident costs.
Accurint offers a free 30-day trial with limited search options.