SYDNEY, Aug. 21, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced it has signed a five-year multimillion dollar agreement with Veda (ASX: VED), a leading provider of credit information and analysis in Australia and New Zealand. The agreement extends Veda's existing strategic outsourcing relationship with IBM, which continues to provide Veda with a highly reliable and resilient infrastructure, and now includes cloud services.

"The contract reflects the deep partnership between IBM and Veda, and the value that the partnership has delivered to our business," said Veda's CEO Nerida Caesar. "Being a business based on using data and analytics to provide insights, we are constantly looking at the best way to manage and deliver the most accurate insights to our clients. To this end, we have already deployed one of our systems that supports comprehensive credit reporting (CCR) on IBM's flexible infrastructure."

This extended agreement assists Veda's growth strategy, as it provides a scalable solution to support Veda's introduction of CCR products in response to the credit industry's most significant reform in recent times.

Included as part of the amendments to the Privacy Act 1988, CCR requires five additional data fields in order to provide a more complete picture of a consumer's credit activity. Veda expects that the volume and mix of data relating to credit reporting will grow rapidly  as companies realise the benefits of CCR. This prompted Veda to expand its relationship with IBM, to support the expected growth of data and analysis that CCR will bring. 

Veda's customers range from financial services organisations, utility companies and telecommunications providers, with its core product offering being the provision of credit reports in relation to individuals and businesses. It carries credit information on 20 million individuals and 5.7 million commercial entities in Australia and New Zealand.

"We are excited to support Veda as it navigates through a significant time of transformation within the credit reporting industry. The ability to support clients during phases of critical growth in a complex business environment is what differentiates IBM as the leading infrastructure and cloud service provider," said Jeffrey Rhoda, General  Manager, IBM Australia and New Zealand.

Veda listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) in December last year and is continuing to grow its product and market portfolio. The IBM project will be a key strategic pillar to support Veda's growth plans.

About IBM Cloud Computing
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About Veda
Veda (ASX:VED) is a data analytics company and the leading provider of credit information and analysis in Australia and New Zealand. From its core credit bureau business established in 1967, Veda has expanded to deliver a suite of credit and other analytical products targeted to specific industry segments.

Veda is built on the largest, most comprehensive and current data source in Australia and New Zealand with information on over 20 million credit active people and 5.7 million commercial entities. The breadth and depth of our data, and the knowledge it delivers help customers take a proactive and informed approach in making decisions.

Veda's customers use data intelligence provided by Veda to make decisions on credit risk, verify identity and employee background, reduce identity theft and fraud, and undertake digital marketing strategies. www.veda.com.au 

Media Contact 
Nicholas Smith
IBM External Communications
Phone: 212 671 9653 
Email: nssmith@us.ibm.com 

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SOURCE IBM