Ingenico announced that they are implementing a new open architecture security enhancement, the Ingenico On-Guard solution that will encrypt cardholder data from the transaction terminal to the merchant host, thus adding a significant security layer to card transactions that used to communicate in the clear.
The new solution will be available on the Ingenico terminals sold in North America. "With the increased amount of fraudulent activity in the electronic transaction industry, merchants require secure solutions they can trust to protect the data while in their retail systems. As the leading provider of payment solutions, Ingenico has taken the lead in producing a solution that will cause the least amount of disruption to the merchants business as well as one that is based on industry recognized and supported standards" said Lisa Shipley, SVP, Sales & Marketing, Ingenico North America.
"Unlike our competitors, Ingenico's open standard allows merchants and acquirers alike the freedom to adopt this enhanced security feature without purchasing a proprietary decryption package, or risk adopting a new encryption technology that has not proven itself in the marketplace. The security algorithms used in the Ingenico's On-Guard(TM) Solution have been backed by the financial industry for years and have proven to be more than effective in protecting sensitive and private information" continued Shipley. The Ingenico On-Guard(TM) encryption solution which incorporates MagneSafe(TM), a state-of-the-art security technology from MagTek, is available for both large and small merchants. The software is remotely downloaded into the transaction terminal without the need to swap the PIN pad for key injection. This results in a less intrusive fix as well as one that can be performed faster and at lower cost than competitive solutions.
The Ingenico On-Guard(TM) Solution secures the primary account number and personal information on the magnetic stripe card by encrypting selected information from point of entry (card swipe) to the merchants host and or the Processor directly. Once received at the merchant's host, a decryption service is provided by Ingenico so the merchant can utilize the data for their approval and settlement purposes with their transaction Processor.
Ingenico will demonstrate the Ingenico On-Guard(TM) solution at the National Retail Federation Show in New York City, January 11 and 12th, 2009.