Hence, for the first time, an organization in Turkey has been elected as a member of the Board of Advisors at the PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) that plays an important role in ensuring the security of card payment systems and determining international standards.

BKM (Interbank Card Center), which will serve in this council as the representative of all the issuer & acquirer banks operating in Turkey in the field of payment systems, will at the same time be the first organization from Turkey to serve as a member of the Board of Advisors.

CEO of BKM, Soner Canko, declared the following: "It is exciting for BKM to take part in a global and strategic platform such as the Board of Advisors of the PCI Security Standards Council, as a representative of the Turkish Card Payment Sector. We are confident that with this membership, Turkey, which is one of Europe's biggest credit and banking card markets, will contribute to the Board of Advisors and the development of security standards with its favorable experience in the transition to EMV and its successful performance in card payment security."

PCI Security Standards Council General Manager Bob Russo said: "Active involvement from our Participating Organization base is critical to ensuring the PCI Standards remain at the front line for protection against threats to payment card data. Once again I am impressed by the turn out in the election process. It's particularly encouraging to see new markets looking towards open global standards like the PCI Standards to help secure payment card data worldwide. The Council and wider stakeholder community will benefit from the breadth of experiences and perspectives that this new board represents."