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Metro Risk Management Group, LLC Signs Five-Year, Exclusive Distribution Agreement for Ecuador - Initial Order of More Than 550 Subdermal RFID VeriChips
MIAMI --(Business Wire)-- April 15, 2004 -- Metro Risk Replaces Old Biometric Systems with Subdermal RFID VeriChip(TM) to its Array of Credit Card Fraud Solutions for Financial Market
Metro Risk Management Group (MRMG), a Miami-based international risk management agency and developer of information verification systems, announced today it has signed a five-year, exclusive distribution agreement with IDECHIP S.A., for the country of Ecuador replacing old biometric systems with VeriChip(TM), making it possible for financial and health institutions to eliminate fraud and increase revenue.
Under the terms of the new distribution agreement for Ecuador, the initial order consists of 550 VeriChips and 60 proprietary scanners. The five-year distribution agreement for Ecuador requires the distributor to meet annual minimum purchase requirements in order to maintain exclusive distribution rights in that country. Over the five years covered by this agreement, the minimum purchase requirement is 10,650 VeriChips and 1,070 proprietary scanners.
MRMG also announced today it will no longer recommend the use of legacy biometric solutions such as retinal or fingerprint scans. Such technology requires expensive scanners and complex mathematical algorithms with a certain degree of error, deemed no longer acceptable for its financial clients. Instead, the VeriChip(TM) system offers a simpler, cost-effective and more reliable method of identification. About the size of a grain of rice, VeriChip(TM) is the world's first subdermal, radio frequency identification (RFID) microchip that has a variety of security, financial, and emergency identification to name a few planned projects.
MRMG assures that with the use of VeriChip(TM) solutions, card issuers, health care and insurance providers and consumers will reduce credit card fraud and identity theft caused by lost or stolen debit/credit cards and account sharing. For some time now, large credit issuing and insurance companies have been actively searching and testing new technologies involving RFID systems to help eliminate the growing fraud problem. However a USA Today article dated November 17, 2003 about methods of secure payments states: "Still, experts note that one big hurdle remains for RFID systems: security. Lose your RFID-enabled card or earring, and someone else could easily use it to run up charges - especially if no signature is required." Unlike external RFID devices, credit cards and plastic ID's, once implanted, the VeriChip(TM) cannot be lost, stolen, misplaced counterfeited or tampered with. In addition to its potential fraud prevention uses, the VeriChip(TM) can be used in a variety of emergency identification and security applications.
In introducing the subdermal payment solution into the Latin America and European market, MRMG said it has already made initial contacts and plans to partner with credit issuing companies and health care providers to develop specific commercial applications, starting with a pilot program in South America possibly in the third quarter of 2004.
About VeriChip(TM)
VeriChip is a subdermal, radio frequency identification (RFID) device that can be used in a variety of security, financial, emergency identification and other applications. About the size of a grain of rice, each VeriChip product contains a unique verification number that is read by any of a number of proprietary scanners. The brief outpatient "chipping" procedure takes just a few minutes and involves only local anesthetic followed by quick painless insertion of the VeriChip. Once inserted just under the skin, the VeriChip is inconspicuous to sight or touch. A small amount of radio frequency energy passes from the scanner energizing the dormant VeriChip, which then emits a radio frequency signal transmitting the verification number. In October 2002, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ruled that VeriChip will only be regulated by the organization for healthcare information applications, not for VeriChip security, financial, personal identification/safety applications.
About IDECHEAP S.A
IDECHEAP S.A is an Ecuadorian based company constituted with local investment funds on December 2003. Its main purpose is to develop alternate applications for personal ID needs supported by Hi-Tech. With headquarters in Quito, and soon offices in Guayaquil and Cuenca, IDECHIP meets the needs of top executives from Private Security Companies and government agencies as well as Telecommunications Suppliers in Ecuador.
About Metro Risk Management Group, LLC
Headquartered in Miami, Florida, Metro Risk Management Group is an international risk management agency and developer of information verification systems (http://www.metroprobe.com), with twelve offices worldwide. The firm was founded in 1998 to serve the needs of multinational corporations, financial institutions and government agencies in security and investigative matters. For more information, visit http://www.metroriskmg.com.
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