The new standards are obligatory from 2015 but Nochex has ensured it remains one step ahead of the competition by certifying early.

Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) Level 1 is a compulsory standard for leading banks and financial institutions worldwide including Nochex. It was set up to help businesses process card payments securely and reduce card fraud by protecting sensitive card holder information. Any organisation that handles, stores or transmits card payments or cardholder information must meet these standards. Leading firms such as Nochex are assessed annually to ensure they have correctly applied this stringent set of standards to their cardholder environment.

Every three years the standard is updated to make sure it stays abreast of the latest security requirements. The most recent update (version 3.0) was released in November 2013 and becomes mandatory in 2015. Nochex made the decision to become compliant early to ensure it maintains the highest levels of security for its merchant account customers and consumers. In doing so Nochex has become one of the first UK based organisations to achieve compliance.

Nochex Chief Executive Officer, Martin Greenbank says “Nochex is delighted to have passed its assessment. Security is of paramount importance to a payment service like ours which is why we were so keen to be assessed against the most up to date version of the standard. It was a demanding exercise but the last thing we want is for our customers to be at risk. Being among the first really is the icing on the cake. We strive to be the very best at everything we do and obviously security is no exception.”

As internet shopping grows more popular, so, regrettably, does internet fraud grow more common. According to figures released by Financial Fraud Action UK*, in the first six months of 2014 alone £110m was lost to credit card fraud in the UK. This emphasises how vital it is for a trusted payment method like Nochex to continue to invest in security.

Nochex Chief Technical Officer, Andrew Baiden adds “Criminals are getting more sophisticated and each day seems to bring a different challenge. Card security is about being pro-active. You have to adapt all the time to stay secure, which is why we completed our assessment earlier than needed. Protecting our customers’ data is crucial to us. We don’t just complete the assessment and then rest for the next 12 months; security is a 24/7 job and we are continually working to improve to ensure that we can help stop fraud before it happens.”