Vendors collaborate on cloud-based payment data protection programme

11 January 2012 | 4366 views | 0 Source: Equinox Payments

National Retail Federation's Big Show (NRF 2012)- Leading payment processing and security vendors, Equinox Payments, Voltage Security and Merchant Link, have collaborated to create a cutting-edge, reliable, cloud-based payment solution to protect sensitive point-of-sale payment data.

The integration of these proven solutions was a direct response to Columbia Sportswear Company's desire to reduce its PCI scope for its retail locations by minimizing or eliminating the need to store any payment data on its network environment, while allowing scalability to support future growth.

In a joint effort to meet Columbia 's challenge and push the envelope on payment data security, Equinox's payment terminals were combined with Voltage SecureData Payments™ solutions and Merchant Link's TransactionVault™ tokenization and Payment Gateway™.

Data is captured using Equinox Payments' next generation L5300 payment system, which is equipped with an integrated contactless reader and features Equinox's remote key injection system that allows a retailer to initiate on-site, in-store terminal key injection quickly and securely for debit card transactions.
For credit card transactions, Voltage Security's encryption technology featuring stateless key management offers protection of payment data from swipe to processing and works alongside PIN debit encryption without any impact.
Merchant Link's card-based tokenization technology enhances security and marketing analytics, while its gateway service ensures successful settlement.

"Our customers have high expectations when it comes to the quality of our products and the security of the payment information they entrust us with," said Susan Leafe , Retail Application Manager, Columbia Sportswear Company. "Equinox Payments, Voltage Security and Merchant Link have come together to enable a comprehensive, reliable payment solution that significantly reduces information security risk for us and for our customers while providing the scalability and ease of maintenance we desired."

The initial pilot programs were completed prior to the holiday shopping season and implementation across Columbia Sportswear's 54 U.S. retail locations is expected to be completed by April 2012 . By integrating the latest payment techn technologies and security into a single solution, Columbia Sportswear will not only be able to secure transactions today, but will also be able to adjust and scale the solution when future payment methods such as contactless, electronic wallets and EMV become more mainstream.