Cards briefs: Fair, Isaac Sells Triad System to Sumitomo

SAN RAFAEL, Calif. - Fair, Isaac & Co. said it has sold its Triad adaptive control system to one of Japan's largest credit card operations.

The purchase by Sumitomo Credit Service, an affiliate of Sumitomo Bank Ltd., reflects a maturation of the Japanese consumer credit industry and more business potential for Fair, Isaac, the vendor said.

Fair, Isaac has more than 25 clients in Japan, but Sumitomo is the first to buy Triad, which supports decision-making in such areas as setting credit limits, managing collections, and detecting fraud. Triad has been used in Europe and the United States since 1985; 120 companies have applied it to the monitoring of 275 million accounts each month.

"As with the growth of any credit market, Japanese credit grantors were first interested in tools to screen and process applications," said John Woldrich, executive vice president of Fair, Isaac, which will provide Triad consulting and other services to Sumitomo from its Tokyo office.

"Now they are entering a stage where portfolios are large enough to place equal importance on improving account management," Mr. Woldrich said.

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