Fico Buys Adeptra in US$115m Deal
Decision management tools group Fair Isaac Corp (Fico) announced that it is buying Adeptra and its software-as-a-Service (SaaS) customer behaviour software and risk solutions for US$115m, expanding its decision management and loan application and collection tools and also giving it more offerings in the mobile customer engagement arena, covering fraud and customer service end uses.
The acquisition will complete in September 2012, upon satisfaction of the usual regulatory and boardroom closing conditions. Adeptra, based in Reading, UK, and Norwalk, Connecticut, is currently owned by a consortium of investors led by ABS Ventures.
Adeptra’s SaaS platform enables leading financial services institutions and other businesses to take advantage of the explosion in mobile communication in order to manage risk, fight fraud and dramatically improve the customer experience, all in real time. By combining Adeptra’s technology with Fico’s decision management applications, the enlarged firm is hoping to expand away from just defining, changing and testing decisions into executing and resolving customer interactions immediately using the mobile channel, potentially enhancing customer service and fraud protection at banks and other financial institutions (FIs).
Fico has been an Adeptra reseller since 2007 and already enjoyed a close relationship with the company, selling their respective Falcon and Adeptra solutions alongside each other in anti-fraud packages.
“For many of our clients, fraud protection and even debt collection have become important drivers of customer satisfaction and loyalty,” said Will Lansing, chief executive officer (CEO) of Fico. “By integrating Adeptra’s customer engagement and risk intervention platform with our decision management applications, we’re enabling our clients to interact with their customers in ways that strengthen customer loyalty while minimising business risks. That way, our clients can grow in lock-step with the evolving mobile economy.”