First of Omaha Inks Deal With Risk Management Provider

Through a deal with Retail Decisions, First of Omaha Merchant Processing will offer card-not-present risk management and fraud detection services.

The primary goal is increased customer satisfaction. "This will benefit us from a profitability standpoint that comes from happy and retainedcustomers. If you offer customer solutions that allow them to more successfully run their companies, they stay with you," said Nick Baxter, president of First of Omaha Merchant Processing, a wholly owned subsidiary of First National Bank of Omaha and one of the few remaining in-house bank processors.

"Risk management systems are a hot product at the moment," he added. "What we're doing is making sure we have as complete a product range in this market as possible."

First of Omaha has relationships with other risk management system providers plus Visa and MasterCard. However, Hazlet, N.J.-based Retail Decisions' telecommunications industry experience proved attractive. Several of the bank's telecom industry customers are already using the Retail Decisions product.

In January, the bank will begin offering the company's newest product, ebitGuard-an IP-based, enterprise risk management system that provides real-time risk assessment. The system incorporates eFalcon, a neural-based risk management product from HNC, San Diego, Calif.

Operating online or offline, the system checks credit card transactions against a set of rules and scores them based on the likelihood of fraud. When a questionable transaction is flagged, merchants may decline it or get more information.