The retailer, with over 2,800 stores, will utilise ACI’s UP Merchant Payments solution to secure its payment data with the latest version of its point-to-point encryption (P2PE) and tokenisation capabilities.

P2PE is an emerging encryption technique in the payments industry that protects sensitive cardholder data in transit—as it is transmitted from a merchant’s store to its acquiring bank. P2PE converts a consumer’s confidential credit and debit card data into indecipherable codes when the card is read by the payment terminal. This conversion renders the sensitive data invaluable while in the possession of the retailer, preventing theft and subsequent fraud. The solution delivered by ACI will be certified against version 2 of the PCI P2PE Standards specifications and is expected to go live across all stores in early 2017.

“Against the backdrop of numerous high profile data breaches in Europe and the US, protecting customer data is imperative for many retailers, such as the Co-op, which is utilising ACI to help ensure its customer data remains secure,” said Andrew Quartermaine, Head of Merchant Retail, ACI Worldwide. “Using the latest version of P2PE and tokenisation will not only increase card security, but also put retailers ahead of the curve in terms of regulatory changes, especially as P2PE is likely to be mandated in the near future.”

“The security of our customers’ data is of paramount importance to us,” said Cheryl Marshall, Retail Chief Information Officer, the Co-op. “We believe ACI Worldwide’s UP Merchant Payments solution offers us not only the payment processing power we require, but also the flexibility to meet our needs in the future.”

ACI will run the service for the Co-op from its European data centre. The Co-op will have the advantage of a dedicated service, which has the scalability and flexibility to be adjusted to meet the retailer’s individual needs as they change over time, while enjoying all of the benefits of outsourcing.