ProtectPay is a powerful, secure data repository where merchants and service providers can store sensitive customer payment information and receive back a unique customer identification number which they use to access the payment information for repeat billing or ongoing business transactions. It is fully compliant with PCI DSS security standards.

ProPay's MicroSecure Card Reader encrypts cardholder information at swipe, stores the data if needed, and/or transmits the data for processing when connected to an Internet-enabled PC. The integration of these two offerings gives merchants a secure end-to-end solution that provides the ability to securely process, and then store with ProPay, any payment card swiped through the Card Reader for repeat or future billing.

"One of the reasons merchants are tempted to retain sensitive cardholder data in their systems is for repeat or future billing," explained Greg Pesci, ProPay Executive Vice President of Business Strategy. "By retaining this information, they remain a target of hackers and data thieves. With these two services now integrated, they no longer need to capture or hold this data. With so many data breaches and compromises being announced, we expect service providers, merchants, and their acquiring banks will receive this news with genuine excitement and relief."

Features and Benefits of ProtectPay with the MicroSecure Card Reader

• Magstripe data from cards swiped through the Card Reader is immediately encrypted so cardholder data is never left out in the open
  
• Merchants can choose to process and then securely store the encrypted data with ProPay rather than retain and protect it on their systems
  
• Merchants can use ProtectPay as a single interface to major gateways, processors, and service providers, simplifying their transition to ProPay
  
• Multiple customer payment cards and alternative payment methods can be stored, accessed, and updated
  
• Customer data can be easily searched and sorted
  
• Refunds and credits can be quickly made
  
• Credit card data, bank information, and other alternative payment options can be utilized for future payment transactions

"Business owners and merchants want to focus their time and resources on building their core businesses, not on PCI compliance and payment data security issues," said Pesci. "With ProPay these merchants can finally reduce or even eliminate the potential of a hack or breach of customer payment data simply because the data is no longer in their systems."