PCI & EMV Compliance
Cardholder Data Security is your Responsibility
Ensuring the safety of your customers' cardholder information can help your business
strive to create and maintain a positive image, enhance customer confidence and
even assist in improving your bottom line.
As part of NSI's ongoing provision of credit and debit card processing services,
we want to provide you with some critical information regarding the Payment Card
Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard (DSS) and the Card Association Compliance
Programs.
It is important to note that all Merchants and Service Providers that store, process,
or transmit cardholder data must comply with PCI DSS and the Card Association Compliance
Programs. However, certification requirements vary by business and are contingent
upon your "Merchant Level" or "Service Provider Level". Failure to comply with PCI
DSS and the Card Association Compliance Programs may result in a Merchant being
subject to fines, fees or assessments and/or termination of processing services. [more »]
EMV Arrives on the Scene
As the discontinuation of Datapac looms, it is becoming increasingly clear that
EMV will be here to stay very soon. EMV is a common global standard for integrated
circuit (contact) 'smart' cards, developed by Europay International, MasterCard
and Visa (now overseen by EMVCo.), and endorsed by Interac in Canada. The idea behind
EMV is to facilitate interoperability between these new, more sophisticated 'smart'
cards, and the terminals in the marketplace. It provides a common platform for debit
and credit card processing, regardless of brand. Beyond these benefits of EMV, there
is also a significant security advantage, with enhanced card risk management controls
for specific types of purchases such as international, low-value payments, and high-risk
merchants. Many industry insiders believe this is a key driver for EMV adoption.
Phil Howell, vice-president product standards and implementations at Visa International,
and a member of EMVCo's Board of Managers, says that EMV has already shown itself
to be successful in reducing fraud. In Malaysia, "credit and debit card fraud -
which prior to EMV deployment occurred at a very high rate - has been almost entirely
eradicated"... [more »]
Why use TCP/IP Transactions?
Employing IP technology to enable a payment device to connect to a processor host
system via internet will increase the speed of card authorization while decreasing
communication costs. It is realistic to reduce a 15 - 20 second payment transaction
time to 3 - 5 seconds.
Savings for the merchant can be realized with the elimination of costly dedicated
phone lines and faster service to their customers. Savings for the banks can be
realized by no longer requiring dialup lines and dedicated connections.
With EMV transaction becoming more and more popular in all parts of the world, users
all over the world begin to realize the longer transaction time due to the local
processing features of an EMV transaction. IP enabled technology will help to reduce
the communication time and thus compensate for the longer processing time.
IP technology will be a need and important feature for EMV payment devices.[more
»]