UK payment processor HSBC Merchant Services has launched a service designed to help merchants comply with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS).
Established by card schemes Visa, MasterCard, Amex, Discovery and JCB, the global standards set out minimum security requirements for companies accepting plastic.
Non-compliant firms can face unlimited fines, with one unnamed outfit hit for £100,000 as a result of a card data security breach within the last year, says HSBC Global Services.
Yet research commissioned last year by vendor Tripwire found that the vast majority of UK firms had yet to be certified as PCI DSS compliant with a third unsure if they would meet an upcoming September deadline.
In order to simplify what can be a complex processes, HSBC Merchant Services has launched Global Fortress, a one-stop shop for merchants seeking to become PCI compliant.
The processor says that for £6 a month per merchant ID, Global Fortress will help protect customer data and regularly test security systems, among other services, through qualified security assessor, SecurityMetrics.
Chris Davies, MD, HSBC Merchant Services, says: "Although the process to ensure your business is PCI DSS compliant can be an arduous one, it is necessary to protect customers' card data from fraud and protect the reputation of your business. Not only that, but a merchant may have to pay large fines if they decide to ignore these obligatory requirements.
"Global Fortress allows our customers to manage both of these potentially substantial issues: a simple way of achieving PCI DSS compliance and a path to possibly avoid receiving industry fines when compliance is maintained."