Alerts, as the name suggests, is one such technology. These are essentially notifications or messages, sent to customers on the occurrence of an event. The alerts are delivered across a wide variety of channels and devices including email, mobile phones, PDAs, fax etc. Alerting technology is still nascent in usage by banks, but one that is expected to be more frequented, particularly as customers realize the control it allows.

February 2005 Choicepoint, a leading provider of ID and credential validating services notified 30,000 consumers that fraudsters had gained access to their profiles containing social security numbers, credit histories, criminal records etc. Initially, Choicepoint believed 145,000 consumers were affected (subsequently revised to around 500,000). Federal investigators are believed to have informed Choicepoint that its files had been breached by fraudsters, who set up bogus business accounts to gain legitimate access to consumer data.