Xref Limited’s (ASX:XF1) identity checking business Rapid ID Pty Ltd has entered an exclusive partnership with Higher Ed Services (HES) to deliver a new digital checking solution that revolutionises how businesses check university graduate qualifications.
RapidID is a disruptive ID verification and fraud prevention platform that simplifies identification, screening and compliance tasks in an all-in-one, integrated API. It provides clients with real-time identity verification and screening.
HES is a not-for-profit entity owned by Universities Australia. HES manages ‘My eQuals’, a digital academic credentials platform that was established through a collaboration involving 47 public universities across Australia and New Zealand (ANZ). My eQuals continues to expand to other tertiary education providers, including TAFEs and private providers. The platform allows all participating education providers to issue official academic credentials records.
HES has now commenced building the Graduation Verification Service (GVS). The latter service will be a central digital repository of graduation data that enables third parties (employers, recruiters, background checkers) to instantly verify a graduate’s qualifications. The GVS will cover up to 20 years of historical records for each education provider and will be capable of verifying millions of unique qualification records.
Prior to the GVS, no such central database existed, resulting in graduate qualification checks being slow and expensive. In many cases, they were deemed to be impracticable. The advent of the GVS will provide a more cost effective, time-saving and reliable method for checking the qualifications of over 400,000 students who graduate from ANZ universities and other tertiary education providers that participate in My eQuals each year, as well as historic graduates from those institutions.
HES has partnered exclusively with RapidID to deliver the Graduate Verification Service to the market. RapidID will act as the exclusive wholesale gateway, servicing all retailers who seek qualification verification as part of their own offerings. Upon launch, the GVS will be immediately available to all Xref customers via the Xref marketplace and platform.
Jay Sageth, My eQuals Program Director, said “HES is delighted to be partnering with RapidID to introduce the Graduate Verification Scheme to Australia and New Zealand. GVS will not only provide convenience to the verification marketplace but also offer benefits to the participating tertiary education providers operational efficiencies and their graduates through increased efficiencies and better employability outcomes To bring the GVS to market, it was essential that we select a wholesale distribution partner that can boast an unrivalled track record of taking pioneering new checking products from early stage through to mainstream market adoption. The industry has been asking for a solution like the GVS for many years and its potential is enormous. HES firmly believes that in RapidID we have found a partner that we can trust to fully capitalise on this unique opportunity”.
David Haines, RapidID Director & General Manager, said “Ask any recruiter and they’ll likely bemoan just how long a graduate qualification check can take. For many years the tertiary education sector has lagged behind in its ability to verify qualification data in realtime. HES’ move to digitise graduate checks will revolutionise the way businesses access qualification data and dramatically reduce their time to identify, screen and hire in this hyper-competitive labour market. Hats off to HES for being able to successfully deliver such a complex undertaking. From our perspective, we are immensely proud to partner with HES and excited to be the exclusive wholesale distributor of such an eagerly anticipated solution.”
Lee-Martin Seymour, Xref’s Executive Director / CEO, said “We are delighted to become the wholesale partner in this ground-breaking initiative, which will materially improve the process of checking the academic qualifications of students attending Australian and New Zealand based universities and other tertiary education providers. The partnership evolved from a thorough tender process that recognised and valued the RapidID and Xref business processes, people and platform. It provides yet another example of how the RapidID platform can be harnessed to deliver a cost-effective way for clients to check the veracity of potential employees’ academic credentials. We look forward to a long and productive relationship with HES.”
Chairman / Tom Stianos said: “Being able to wholesale these checks via RapidID and retail them via Xref ensures fast and broad distribution allowing all employers to gain access to the service.”
Xref Limited
Lee-Martin Seymour
Founder, CEO, Director
E: lee@xref.com
M: +61 439 576624
Media & Investor Enquiries
The Capital Network
Julia Maguire
E: julia@thecapitalnetwork.com.au
M: +61 2 8999 3699
Authorised by the Board: Xref Limited (ASX : XF1)
Xref is a reference checking and identity verification platform that empowers organisations worldwide to make great people decisions.
Xref’s fully automated online reference checking platform allows employers to request one or multiple references in minutes and receive fast, honest feedback within 24 hours. Xref also enables employers to know who a candidate really is with RapidID, Xref’s biometric identity verification solution.
Xref is the reference checking platform of choice globally. The Company understands the talent and human resources markets and is currently working with some of the largest organisations in the world to develop new products that will provide unique employment insights.
In the future, Xref plans to extend its platform across the full hire to retire journey, dramatically increasing its addressable market and allowing organisations to reap the benefits of Xref across their businesses.
Website: xref.com
Investor Centre and Presentation: xf1.com
Twitter: @xf1
Email: investors@xf1.com
Xref Limited, Suite 13, 13 Hickson Road, Dawes Point, Sydney NSW 2000 Australia
About Higher Ed Services
Higher Ed Services (HES) is a not-for-profit organisation owned by and working for the Australian higher education sector. We create value for the sector by bringing people, ideas and higher education institutions together so they can achieve better outcomes and realise benefits beyond their individual capacity.
The role of HES is to work for higher education by building trusted environments for the exchange of ideas and information and to help the sector address common needs through collaborative technology, data and operational partnerships. We are primarily an asset for creating collaboration, achieving synergy and managing the value that creates.
To learn more please visit: www.hes.edu.au
