Next time you apply for credit and are highly impressed by the rapid processing of your application, the importance of the roles played by Information Trust Corporation (ITC) and the Search Software America (SSA) product, SSA-NAME3, will be very evident.
That`s because, after more than a decade using the SSA product and gaining an understanding of the complexity of the multicultural aspects of the South African society, ITC is now able to run `search and match` tests on names, addresses and identification numbers, and provide accurate person-matching answers within just five seconds.
SSA, represented exclusively in South Africa by Bateleur Software Solutions, specialises in software that adds intelligence and quality to crucial name search and matching applications.
ITC IT director, Charles le Roux, explains that his company`s very lifeblood is data and its effective use. ITC acts as the custodian of South Africa`s estimated 15-million credit active consumers and 250 000 corporate profiles. These profiles provide a history of a consumer`s or a business`s repayment behavior, compiled and stored by ITC in order to facilitate the management of risk.
As such, a fast, accurate name search and matching software product is vital to the organisation`s ongoing success as it allows for increased efficiency and hence management of risk and associated savings.
"Indeed, on your average working day, ITC processes some 60 000 consumer and more than 3 000 corporate profile searches for clients ranging from financial institutions to retail outlets, all of whom draw on ITC data to assess the risk involved in their financial and marketing decisions.
"Thanks to the power of SSA-NAME3, we`re consistently able to deliver outstanding customer service by reverting with accurate findings within a matter of seconds," says Le Roux.
He further notes that SSA-NAME3 is a robust and flexible set of tools incorporating many different search strategies. Easily integrated into new and existing systems, and with enough in-built flexibility to allow for customisation, the product does just about everything possible to ensure that a search application achieves a match.
"Of particular benefit to both ITC and our customers is the product`s flexibility. While the heart of SSA-NAME3 and the standard South African rules remain intact, we have - over the years - optimised these search parameters and algorithms to take into account the varying nature of our multilingual and multicultural society.
"Today, we can honestly say that our version of SSA-NAME3 is fine-tuned to such an extent that it is comfortably able to contend with just about every spelling variation of just about every South African surname or address," he adds.
Product manager for the SSA suite at Bateleur Software Solutions, Laura Selmer-Olsen, says SSA-NAME3`s ability to run on mainframes, servers and workstations - and so deliver an affordable solution offering the most intelligent and accurate key names and search strategies - has been particularly appealing to local customers.
She adds that the product can be used on databases of 50 000 to 100-million records. And while the growth of organisational databases usually means they become increasingly difficult to control, maintain and operate effectively, this is not the case with SSA.
In fact, Selmer-Olsen argues that, as a system that finds, matches, groups and investigates identification data about people, places or things, SSA-NAME3 is crucial to the maintenance of accurate information, and the running of a cost-effective operation.
SSA has more than 16 years` experience and more than 350 customers in over 40 countries. The company already boasts eight large sites in South Africa, added to which are its international sites at the likes of AT&T, Lotus, IBM, Compaq, Readers Digest, VISA, Barclays, Bank of New York, Bank of Montreal, Andersen Consulting, Lockheed IMS as well as many State and Federal Government bodies.
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