In a move that will broaden its identity verification offerings, Equifax, the credit reporting and business information company, announced Monday that it has acquired Anakam, a maker of large-scale, software-based, multi-factor authentication solutions for hospitals, HIEs and e-prescribing, among others.
Terms of the transaction, which the companies completed October 1, were not disclosed.
The global identity management market, spurred by increases in online commerce and information sharing, is a large and growing market. With the combination of Anakam's Identity Suite and Equifax's eIDverifier service, the company will be able to provide a single, integrated platform for two-factor identification as well as no-touch, risk-based identity verification and identity proofing.
Anakam's expertise in healthcare – from offering credentialing and verification for health information exhanges to providing security for patients accessing medical info online – is beneficial where traditional solutions have been inadequate in verifying and authenticating large and diverse web users. The company created an authentication platform that is secure, scalable, and easy-to-deploy and use, eliminating the need for hard tokens or the downloading of software.
Founded in 2004, and headquartered in San Diego with additional offices in Arlington, Va., Anakam will become a division of Equifax, and become part of the company's Technology and Analytical Services organization.
Equifax, best known for its consumer credit reporting, also provides services for care providers, state Medicaid agencies and healthcare collections and debt-purchasing entities who rely on its data and analytical solutions.
While Equifax has been an innovator in identity proofing, verifying more than 60 million identities annually, execs say Anakam's unique software adds a secure, cost-effective solution that can scale to millions of users while eliminating the need for cards and tokens.
"The acquisition by Equifax marks an exciting new direction, one in which we are jointly taking identity services and trusted business enablement to the next level," said Allan Camaisa, president and CEO of Anakam. "Our global customers and prospects are making critical decisions on how to establish trust and reduce fraud as they move their business operations online to eliminate costs, increase efficiency and improve quality. The intellectual property that Equifax and Anakam bring together around a single, integrated platform for identity proofing and multifactor authentication will be a powerful force in the exploding consumer authentication marketplace."
"Leveraging Anakam's solutions and highly-experienced management team alongside Equifax's decisioning technology platforms, market presence and financial strength will allow us to broaden our portfolio of solutions in this large and rapidly-growing market," said Rajib Roy, president, Equifax Technology and Analytical Services. "With Anakam, Equifax will become a premier provider of cloud-based authentication solutions."
