National City Introduces 'Identity Protect' To Help Customers Fight Identity Theft

CLEVELAND, May 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- National City Corporation has introduced "Identity Protect," a new product designed to help customers fight identity theft. The new product provides subscribing National City customers with unlimited access to their credit report from all three credit bureaus, weekly credit monitoring, quarterly credit alerts, identity theft insurance coverage and identity theft resolution services.

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"At National City, we care about doing what's right for our customers, and their privacy is a primary concern for us," said Thomas Munoz, product manager, National City Insurance Group. "Identity theft is a growing problem, and we want to help educate our customers about this crime. We provide valuable information on our Web site at nationalcity.com/identityprotect, which is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We also want to assure customers that National City carefully monitors customer accounts on a regular basis for any unusual activity. In addition, our customers are protected by the National City Zero Liability policy, which means they are not responsible for unauthorized purchases using National City Money Cards(R), Check Cards or credit cards."

In addition, National City is a founding member of the Identity Theft Assistance Corporation, or ITAC, and maintains a dedicated Identity Theft Unit to help customers who fall victim. The National City Identity Theft Unit, working together with member organizations of ITAC, forms a powerful ally to help identify identity fraud and assist customers if they become a victim.

Identity Protect is available to all National City customers, but the protection it offers is not exclusive to National City accounts. "National City recognizes that customers may have multiple financial relationships, and one of the added benefits of using Identity Protect is its ability to help customers detect changes in any of their financial accounts, not just those held at National City," said Munoz.

One of Identity Protect's strongest benefits is in detecting changes in a customer's credit report early enough for them to take action. "Federal Trade Commission data shows that consumers can spend up to 600 hours in recovering their identity," added Munoz. "While we want to help our customers protect themselves and fight identity theft, this product offers our assistance should they ever become a victim."

In addition to the product's prevention aspects, Identity Protect offers $25,000 in insurance coverage for expenses incurred to provide proof to creditors that identity theft has taken place. This includes costs for notary services, certified mail costs, lost wages up to $2,000, loan application fees, long distance phone calls and reasonable attorney fees with the insurance carrier's prior consent.

Customers can also choose to use Identity Protect's restoration and recovery services. Through this component, designated counselors will assist the customer in taking on the tasks necessary to prove the customer's innocence. "For some, the task of restoration and recovery can be daunting. This is just another aspect of Identity Protect that lets our customers know that we're there for them," said Munoz.

"We're proud of the steps we've taken to secure our customers' information," Munoz continued. "In fact, National City was rated as the most trusted guardian of customer privacy, according to a survey of consumers conducted by the Ponemon Institute. Identity Protect gives us another weapon to use against identity thieves."

Identity Protect is available to customers of National City for $8.95 per month. Customers can obtain more information by visiting any National City branch or visiting NationalCity.com.

About National City

National City Corporation , headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, is one of the nation's largest financial holding companies. The company operates through an extensive banking network primarily in Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri and Pennsylvania, and also serves customers in selected markets nationally. Its core businesses include commercial and retail banking, mortgage financing and servicing, consumer finance and asset management. For more information about National City, visit the company's Web site at NationalCity.com.