First Data Corporation, a global leader in electronic commerce and payment processing, today announced that Bank of America Merchant Services will offer the First Data TransArmor solution to its U.S. merchant base.
The TransArmor solution fundamentally changes the way merchants secure and manage cardholder data.
Bank of America and First Data entered into a joint-venture in 2009 to create Banc of America Merchant Services, LLC (Bank of America Merchant Services) and have since built a portfolio of over 350,000 merchants. Through the joint-venture, merchant customers benefit from an enhanced suite of payment products and services including credit, debit, check, gift card programs, and now data security.
"Data security is a top priority for Bank of America Merchant Services and our merchant community," said Mike Reed, chief operating officer at Bank of America Merchant Services. "The ease with which the TransArmor solution can be added to existing point-of-sale environments along with the value of completely removing card data from those systems to protect payment card data and diminish PCI compliance demands makes it the perfect fit for our merchants. Having confidence in the security of customer data enables them to focus even more on running their core business."
The TransArmor service protects consumer payment card data from the moment it enters the merchant environment, and replaces card data with a token number that preserves the value of card data for merchant business operations but removes all value for fraudsters. The solution leverages the RSA SafeProxy architecture, a powerful combination of encryption, tokenization and key management engineered to provide end-to-end protection.
"First Data continues to bring customer-focused innovations to the marketplace that our industry partners have embraced," said Ed Labry, president of Retail and Alliance Services, First Data. "The TransArmor solution allows Bank of America Merchant Services merchants to gain access to industry-leading security technology to safeguard their customers' payment card data and significantly reduce the scope, risk and costs associated with PCI compliance."