Bethesda, MD – September 14, 2016 – Generali Global Assistance (“GGA” or “the Company”), a leader in the assistance industry since its founding in 1963 and part of the multinational Generali Group, today announced that it has deployed its Iris OnWatch (“Iris”) identity protection platform for Optima Tax Relief (“Optima”). Optima will now, along with its industry leading tax relief services, offer its customers 360° identity and digital protection services inclusive of the four pillars of identity protection – prevention, monitoring, alerts and resolution.
Optima Tax Relief helps Americans nationwide with aggressive collection policies of state and federal tax agencies. Its services include tax negotiation and settlement, IRS audit defense, tax levies and liens, wage garnishment, as well as assistance with back taxes, including penalties and accrued interest. Optima will white label Iris, a comprehensive identity protection platform that minimizes the risk and fallout of identity theft through an easy-to-use online dashboard, and embed the offering into its Protection Plus product offering, which resolves tax debt so that customers can get on with their lives. Optima’s award-winning team of tax experts protect customers from IRS collection action such as wage garnishments, bank levies, and asset seizures. Iris is fully customizable, and GGA has deployed the platform to fit the unique needs of Optima and its customers. Optima will now offer Iris to customers as a value added service in order to increase revenue, create continued touch points between Optima and its customers, and increase engagement.
Paige Schaffer, President and COO of Generali Global Assistance’s Identity and Digital Protection Services Global Unit, commented on today’s news, “We are proud to partner with Optima Tax Relief, a leader in the tax assistance industry, to provide our innovative Iris OnWatch identity protection services to its customers. Through the Iris portal, Optima customers will now have instant, comprehensive access to our identity theft prevention, monitoring, alerts and resolution tools. Both Generali Global Assistance and Optima Tax Relief are deeply committed to customer service, and through this partnership Optima customers will have access to award-winning teams of identity protection and tax specialists, offering comprehensive protection of their assets. We look forward to building out our partnership with Optima and to providing its customers with industry-leading identity protection services.”
Iris addresses all areas of need for companies and their customers, offering prevention, monitoring, alerts, award-winning resolution services, and identity theft insurance. The platform provides educational resources on identity protection best practice, privacy protection software including anti-phishing and password protector tools, and credit tracking across all three credit agencies. Additionally, it monitors activity across the entire spectrum of the Internet, including the Deep Web and Dark Web, and alerts customers immediately to suspicious activity. Iris’ award-winning resolution team provides white glove service to customers who have been victims of identity theft, and assists with IRS identity theft services, affidavit submission, creditor notification and follow-up, and more. GGA offers more than $1 million in identity theft insurance for reimbursement of expenses related to the recovery process through its parent company, Generali Group, one of the largest insurance companies in the world.
David King, CEO of Optima Tax Relief, commented on today’s news, “At Optima, our mission is to obtain the best possible result for each client’s specific tax situation and to allow them to put any tax issues to rest. Iris OnWatch is enabling us to bring a new and enormously beneficial service our clients: comprehensive identity protection. Identity thieves used stolen IDs to unlawfully collect over $5 billion in tax refunds in a single a year, according to a recent federal government study. For an individual taxpayer who has their ID stolen and used by a criminal to file a fraudulent tax return, there can be serious financial and emotional repercussions. All too often, we have seen the devastating result of tax ID theft and understand the amount of work it takes to unwind the damage created with the IRS. Hence, we’re proud to be partnering with Iris to provide our clients ID theft protection as a way to proactively defend them before it occurs. As a customer service focused organization, we are especially impressed with the resolution services offered by Iris. Our customers will now have access to Iris’s award-winning team of identity theft resolution specialists, who are available 24/7 to handle complex issues, restore identities and minimize damages. This adds a powerful and important new service to our suite of tax related services.”
More information about the Iris identity protection platform is available at www.IrisIdentityProtection.com.
About Generali Global Assistance (GGA)
Generali Global Assistance (GGA), formerly Europ Assistance in the U.S., is based in Bethesda, Maryland, and has been a leader in the assistance industry since its founding in 1963. GGA is a brand of Europ Assistance Group and part of the multinational Generali Group, which for over 185 years has created a presence in 60 countries with over 76,000 employees. Our success has been built on the foundation of trust that clients have placed in our ability to provide assistance in the most difficult of circumstances.
About Optima Tax Relief
Optima Tax Relief helps Americans nationwide deal with the aggressive collection policies of state and federal tax agencies. Optima puts its experience to work, understands how to deal with tax issues, and takes the burden away from its customers. Its goal is to obtain the best possible result with each customer’s specific tax situation, allowing them to put this issue to rest. Optima brings customers within compliance, protects them from collection, and creates a solution that works best on a case-by-case basis.
GGA Media Contact
Jay A. Morakis
M Group Strategic Communications (for Generali Global Assistance North America)
+1 212 266 0191
jmorakis@mgroupsc.com
GGA Sales Contact
Kelly Ballweber
VP, Sales & Account Management, North America
+1 240.330.1015
kballweber@us.generaliglobalassistance.com