Sears to use HNC's Falcon; top retail card issuer taps top fraud detection software

Business Wire, March 25, 1997

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 25, 1997--HNC Software Inc. Tuesday announced that Sears, Roebuck and Co., the nation's No. 1 retail card issuer, has signed a letter of agreement to license HNC's payment card fraud detection system Falcon Retail.

Using statistical models developed with HNC's proprietary neural network technology, Falcon Retail can determine the probability of fraud with each card transaction. When the probability of fraud reaches a critical threshold, Falcon Retail will send the case to one of the retailer's fraud analysts for action.

Actions can range from changing the authorization response code to initiating an inquiry to the cardholder. Falcon Retail includes the Falcon Expert rules subsystem that allows users to streamline fraud prevention operations and increase the efficiency and success of fraud analysts.

"Protecting our customers against fraudulent use of their credit is a high priority for Sears," said Bill Redmond, director of fraud management for Sears Credit. "Although retail card fraud historically has been less of a problem than bank card fraud, Sears has an aggressive plan to minimize its impact on Sears and on our customers. We expect HNC's Falcon to make a valuable contribution to that effort."

"We are extremely pleased that a retail issuer of Sear's stature is using our fraud detection technology to protect retail card transactions," commented Robert L. North, president and CEO at HNC. "As clients of our Falcon credit card fraud detection product have learned, the responsiveness of transaction-based scoring leads to big savings. We are confident that Falcon Retail will yield similar benefits."

Sears, Roebuck and Co. is a leading U.S. retailer of apparel, home and automotive products and services, with annual revenue of more than $38 billion. Sears Credit is one of the nation's largest credit card businesses, with receivables of nearly $24 billion and more than 30 million active accounts.

With headquarters in San Diego, HNC Software (NASDAQ:HNCS) is a leader in the application of neural network technology in client/server environments. The company develops, markets, integrates and supports advanced decision software based on computational intelligence.

HNC provides practical solutions in the areas of electronic payments, financial services, retail, educational publishing, direct marketing and market research. For more information, contact Patsy Campbell, Director of Marketing, HNC Software Inc., 5930 Cornerstone Court West, San Diego, Calif. 92121, 619/546-8877.

CONTACT: HNC Software Inc., San Diego

Patricia Campbell, 619/546-8877